Winter
by Cassandraishere
Summary: When Katniss and Peeta are snowed in alone in Katniss' house they spend some quality time together. Catching Fire, Pre-victory tour.
1. Chapter 1

_**Standing on the rooftop**_  
_**There's all these people watching**_  
_**Hard to find the words**_  
_**When you got so far to fall**_  
_**Just trying to keep a secret**_  
_**And never tell a soul no no**_  
_**Take another drink so **_  
_**I can loose control**_

_**I**_  
_**I want you to **_  
_**tell me that you want me, just want me too**_

_**Dave Matthews Band- Rooftop.**_

* * *

**Winter**

**By: Cassandraishere.**

**I do not own the Hunger Games.**

**This was inspired by one too many romantic comedies set in Christmas time. Enjoy**

December was a tough month for District Twelve, it bared heavy blizzards and long dark bitter nights. People grew ill easier and food became scarce. There wasn't any game to hunt, not that Katniss needed to hunt anymore. She was a victor now, filled to the brim with riches. She was in need of nothing, she hungered no more nor did she grow cold. Her house was equipped with all commodities known to man. She could survive the harsh winter easily as she wallowed in the darkness in her heart.

On this particular evening Katniss sat at the kitchen table helping her sister Prim pack up her medical supplies with their mother. The Everdeen healers had lots of work to see. They had hundreds of frostbitten citizens to tend to, flues to medicate, and hypothermia to spot. It seemed as if everyone was busy this winter. Her family had the sick to tend to, Haymitch had alcohol to drink, Peeta had bread to bake and people to help, and Gale had a mine to work at. Katniss had nothing else to do than observe Peeta's coming and goings. On more than one occasion she found herself watching him shovel snow.

Their fingers worked fast for the supplies were packed quickly. Her mother and sister pulled on their coats and wrapped themselves in their scarves. They were gone in a matter of minutes.

Katniss momentarily considered visiting Haymitch but quickly decided against it. He was probably unconscious by now among the furs he had draped strategically across his living room. They were there for his comfort, he blacked out so often because of alcohol that he had premeditated a way to prevent any muscle aches.

Instead she settled in her own living room with a hot mug of tea among her own sea of furs. There was nothing else for her to do but sit and think.

She wished she had something to occupy her time with, something of use. She couldn't carry out her trade and had no other useful skills. She could patch up a roof to prevent a leak but the snow was too heavy now among the rooftops for her to put that skill to any use.

She wondered what Peeta did.

He seemed very busy, and she knew that he was using his time to help the members of District Twelve on their time of need. He left early in the morning and returned close to midnight. She couldn't imagine what could possibly take that long.

It was near midnight and Katniss considered making another pot of tea. She was fighting sleep as she set down the kettle when someone knocked on her door. She froze for a second, puzzled. She never had any visitors, other than the occasional patient of her mother's no one ever came to her door. She was prepared to give directions to her old house in the Seam when she opened her door to an unsuspected sight.

Peeta Mellark stood on her doorstep with snowflakes in his hair.

He wore an expression similar to her own; dark bags under his eyes and heavy eyelids he fought to keep from drooping. She wrapped her arms around her shoulders at the sudden chill that escaped into the house since they stood staring at each other for an unmeasurable moment.

She was startled by an unfamiliar flip of her stomach and the stuttering her heart gave as she was sucked into his indigo eyes.

"I have all this left over bread," he explained and motioned towards a paper bag in his hand. He cleared his throat "I figured you could have some use for it."

Katniss took the bag he offered and peaked inside. It was an assortment of different loaves. They all looked hearty; they would make for a good meal. She smiled her thanks.

"Thank you, Peeta. You really didn't have to."

He shrugged "It was no issue, I bake too much." He began to turn towards his house. There was a single path of footsteps from across the street to her doorstep. His footsteps, fresh and new, it was as if it were only him and her in the world.

Only then did she notice the way he shivered. His cheeks were bright red as was his nose; his lips were looking a little too pale for her liking.

She reached to grasp his upper arm before he turned away from her, startling him. He turned to look at her questionably. She tugged on him lightly, pulling him inside "Would you like to stay? You're freezing and we're due for a blizzard soon, I wouldn't want you to be stuck in your house by yourself."

He began to decline her offer when she pulled on him with more force "It won't be a bother, Peeta. Come in, please."

He hesitated momentarily but nodded nevertheless. She closed the door quickly behind him as he pulled off his snow boots and shrugged off his coat shedding snow as he went.

She hurried to fetch him a mug of tea and he quietly followed her into the kitchen. He looked about the room curiously, his kitchen was fairly similar to her own, yet he seemed focused on the small details; suck as the embellishment on the kitchen rags and the drying herbs.

"No sugar." He said softly, his voice a deep rumble that sent an odd shock through her body "Sugar makes it taste funny, don't you think?"

She smiled "Funny is accurate, yes"

He chuckled at that, it was a nice sound, warm and deep and happy. Katniss herself didn't smile or laugh often, but seeing Peeta smile made her lips curve up as well.

She handed him his mug and ushered him into her living room, practically smothering him in the warm furs. He laughed lightly at her as she buzzed about attempting to bring the room to a warm enough temperature.

"I'm fine, Katniss. I'm not sure if you've realized this, but I grew up in District Twelve as well, I'm sure I can survive winter." He grinned as she stopped in her tracks to stare at him with her hands on her hips. He found her expression adorable, especially when she pouted like that.

Katniss sighed and shook her head, a smile tugging at her lips "You're right. I'm sorry; I just wanted to do something useful…"

Peeta patted the spot beside him on the couch "And babying me is all you had? Should I come here more often?"

Katniss laughed as she settled among the furs beside him and picked up her mug from the coffee table "I believe this is more of a once in a blue moon thing. Don't strain your luck."

Peeta sucked on his teeth "Damn, I was hoping this had more to do with my breathtaking appearance."

They both burst out laughing, honest full laughter that destroyed any tension between them. They turned and positioned themselves so that they sat crossed-legged facing each other, the fires flickering warm light danced across their features highlighting the laughter in their eyes and the almost permanent upwards curl of Peeta's lips. He informed her of mundane occurrences in their District, such as the birth of a new child or the shoemaker's shortage of boots. His voice was deep and musical, efficiently drawing her in and having her hanging on every word. They had never spoken like this before, like friends. It was easy and comfortable, like breathing. Topics continued pouring out for them one after the other. They actually spoke over each other on more than one occasion, both giddy to speak, as if they would never speak to each other again. Katniss found herself telling him about her most recent hunting trip, how disappointed she was to see that it was the time of year for animals to immigrate elsewhere. Peeta was telling her about Rye's latest conquest and Katniss laughed, saying that Rye had to be dating every woman in the District again since must have gone through all of them already. As Peeta shook his head mockingly a large curl of his golden hair fell before his eyes, Katniss was smoothing it away before he had time to reach up to touch it himself.

Katniss' breath caught in her throat as her fingers lingered and ran across his cheek, electrifying warm radiating from the spot she touched him, raising Goosebumps along her arm. Peeta's stare held hers, boring deep into her soul and holding her there, with her heart stuttering and her cheeks flaming. The darkness of her skin looked nice blushing, in Peeta's opinion. She dropped her hand and looked away, reaching for the tea pot and offering him a refill.

He shook his head "I'm fine, thanks."

They were silent for two long minutes as Katniss drank from her tea. Peeta watched her the whole time, before shaking his head to clear his mind.

"How's Prim doing lately?" he asked carefully and conversation erupted again both attempting desperately to put the awkwardness behind them.

"We've got much more snow than usual, it's even seeped into the boots Cinna made for me." Katniss informed him while dropping a much too large –to Peeta's standards- spoonful of sugar into her tea. "I have no idea how I'm supposed to dry the stuff and not ruin it."

Peeta poked her side playfully "Katniss Everdeen cares about what state her clothes are in? What a revelation."

Katniss laugh evolved into snorting "Oh, shut it."

They sat in comfortable silence for a minute or two, simply watching each other. Such an action would be uncomfortable with any other person but each other, they did it often enough. Peeta studied the depth of her silver eyes and Katniss counted his eyelashes. Was it normal for a man to have such long eyelashes? The fire cast their shadow along his cheekbones and for some reason she found them fascinating. Her eyes flashed, for once they were clear to him, as if she wasn't hiding anything and was simply sitting there, wide open. He could see forever in her intelligent eyes, it was as if the grey color of her eyes evolved the longer he looked at her.

Eventually he yawned while Katniss was in the middle of complaining about being useless. He rubbed his right eye and leaned back in his seat. He didn't want to fall asleep; he was perfectly content spending the night talking with her but the human body can only take so much sleep deprivation. He put his cup on the coffee table and dreaded the words about to come out of his mouth, but he never got to voice them, she cut him off.

"You don't have to leave." She murmured softly "I don't want to sleep, you don't want to sleep, and you may as well stay. I could get coffee or something."

He chuckled and shook his head "Your mother will be home soon and I'm sure she'd object us staying up all night."

Katniss sighed and nodded following him to the door, she watched him lace up his boots and button up his jacket.

"Good night, Peeta." She said with obvious reluctance.

He smiled and nodded "Good night."

Only they were both in for a surprise when Peeta pulled open the door.

Snow was blocking the doorway.

Peeta let out a low whistle "That's new."

Katniss gaped at the snow "I didn't think that was even possible."

"Well I guess I'm staying here." Peeta concluded as he tugged off his wool cap and looked over the snow once more "So a blizzard, huh?"

Katniss cracked a smile "Come on, we'll play chess or something. Coffee?"

"I'm in." he nodded and closed the front door.

It was now two in the morning and Katniss was being royally beat by Peeta in probably the shortest chess match of all time. She was no good at board games, they involved too much planning and Katniss had always been the type of person to act on instinct. Peeta was very good at chess; he had always been good at planning after all.

He looked up from his coffee; he took it with a half-and-half serving of milk and coffee. The exact same way as Katniss did, to her surprise, with a ridiculous amount of sugar. He didn't really like sweets that much but coffee was a very bitter drink. He looked at her with a smug smirk and leaned back in his seat.

"You're trapped, Everdeen?"

Katniss glared at him and ended up smiling "Shut up." She rolled one of the few pawn's she'd managed to get from him between her forefinger and thumb. Every single move she could produce would end up in an opening for him to say that word, 'checkmate'.

Finally she gave up, and reluctantly moved her knight, already knowing she would lose. Peeta laughed at her expression and very softly leaned over to whisper "Checkmate."

She glared "You cheated."

"Did not!" he raised his eyebrows and had to try really hard to hold in his laughter.

"Did too!" she grinned and shook her head "no more chess then."

He had to laugh now "Okay Katniss."

They sat there starring at each other "I like this." She said with a curt nod.

"Like what?" he asked as he cleared the table from the game pieces.

"This." She motioned at the air between them "Us like this."

He raised his eyebrow "Trapped in your house because of an abnormal amount of snow? I object."

She smiled "_No. _I meant, Katniss and Peeta, the friendship edition."

"You make us sound like some sort of product."

She rolled her eyes "Could you be serious for a minute?"

He gave her a look "No, I believe I can't." he smiled and wiggled his eyebrows while looking cross-eyed.

"I'm being _serious,_ Peeta." She said with an air of finality "We should do this more often."

He smiled kindly at her "We should." He stood "Come on, let's do something else."

They ended up on the couch together again, sitting closely since the furs could only cover so far. Peeta leaned back, his eyes falling shut every now and then as Katniss hummed a forgotten tune under her breath trying to keep her mind occupied. She had to stay awake; she had to stop staring at the angular shape of Peeta's jaw, or the gentle curve of his lips.

"I haven't slept well in forever." He said as his eyes fluttered open. Every time she looked at them it was like a shock to her of pure electricity. They were just so pure, clear, electrifying, and deeply blue; such a startling shade of indigo, so bright in this world of darkness.

"I haven't slept well either." She admitted and without thinking laid her head on his shoulder, she stifled a yawn.

"Nightmares." Both of them stated at the same time.

She glanced back up at him. His eyes were closed again, his golden hair falling in loose messy curls, hair sticking out in odd directions. He looked nice. Katniss guessed that he _was _attractive, she wasn't blind. She hadn't paid much attention to him before, because she had never been this close to him in such a relaxed matter, she had never had much time to analyze him. But now she did, and he was handsome indeed.

"Stop looking at me, it's impolite." Peeta teased with a grin, his eyes still closed "What would Effie say?"

"Oh, don't remind me of her." She cringed "she might materialize or something."

He snorted "Peeta, comb your hair, this is a _gala_." He said in a high pitched voice.

"Katniss, smile! And do _not _slouch young lady!" Katniss grinned, her own impression of Effie hitting closer to the original.

They laughed and tried not to think about the guarantee of seeing Effie again, when their mentoring duties were to be put into action. The Quarter Quell was coming up and they didn't want to know what fresh hell was waiting for them around the corner. Instead they snuggled closer to each other and wrapped the furs around them tighter.

"Peeta, lay down." She commanded "We're sleeping here."

He frowned and opened his eyes to look at her "Wha-"

"Shh, I'm tired, just sleep." She pushed him gently and laid her head on his chest. Automatically he wrapped his arms around her "Good night, Peeta"

"Good night, Katniss." He yawned.

By the time the rest of the Everdeen women got home it was well into the next day, past two in the afternoon. A group of miners had offered to take them home and help shovel the snow off their doorway, a way of thanks for taking care of their children. Prim leapt into the house, shedding her gloves and scarf as she called out to her sister, saying something about needing to gather more herbs. They had their work cut out for them.

She stopped short when she found her sister, still asleep, wrapped around Peeta so close their noses touched and there was no way to know where she ended and he began. There was no way she would wake them, they both needed the rest and could probably do without the awkwardness of having her there when consciousness came.

Instead of saying anything, the oldest of the three Everdeen women grabbed another blanket of fur and draped it over them. Gently she combed hair off both of their faces and mumbled a silent "Sweet dreams." Before guiding Prim out of the room and closing the living rooms French doors behind her.

Let them have this silent and sweet moment for them, alone.

* * *

_**Thanks for reading and don't forget to review.**_

_**Cassandraishere.**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**I know, I know, I know. Yes I was supposed to update one of my older stories first but... well this just kind of happened! If you want an update on my stories here's this:**_

_Take Me Back: I scrapped most of the chapter, it kind of sucked and you guys deserve the best._

_Yes, We've Met Before: I wrote a lot for the next chapter, I just don't what other things are going to happen during the chapter. Further planning necessary._

_Broken: The chapter needs hardcore editing, it's actually mostly finished._

_Surprise: I've written the chapter twice, I haven't written anything I particularly like yet._

_The Vigil: I need to find a way to connect the series of events that will happen in this story, I don't want to reveal much, it's kind of like a domino effect. If you were wondering the sequel will be named Recovery._

_A Fake Wedding A Real Marriage: I actually have planned out a total of four chapters ahead already for this story, I've just been too lazy to actually write, edit, and publish. Sorry._

_Peeta I'm Pregnant: I don't like the way I've written this story so far, the next chapter will be huge, like a big change. I've been in the whole write, scrap, repeat cycle twice already for this chapter :(._

**_Winter._**

**_By Cassandraishere._**

**_I don't own the hunger games._**

**_(What? No song? Yeah I'm disappointed too.)_**

* * *

"Is this weird?" Peeta whispered silently, he had listened to the change in her breathing, he knew she had been awake as long as he had. He just refused to open his eyes afraid of tainting the moment. He could feel her eyelashes tickle his face, she was looking at him.

"What I'm going to say is going to sound weird: No."

He cracked open an eye and after the sleepy haze faded he could see only one thing, wide grey eyes filled to the brim in lazy comfort "Huh."

"Is it strange that I don't want to move?" she whispered and closed her eyes again with a sigh.

"Maybe, I don't really know. I like it here." He closed his eye and both simultaneously snuggled closer, so close than Katniss ended up on top of him, head tucked under his chin.

"What time is it?" she whispered after a moment of silence, Peeta opened his eyes and glanced at the grandfather clock, he let out a low whistle.

"It's four in the afternoon. I've been here all day." He began to move but she held him tighter "Katniss, it's four in the afternoon."

She sighed "Fine, but don't … no sudden movements."

He laughed and hummed his agreement.

Slowly she sat up and stretched her arms above her. Peeta continued to lie bellow her, simply looking at her. The room had grown slightly colder than before since the fire had died and the sun shone through the gaps in the drapes. Suddenly she dropped her arms and let loose a long breath.

"Do you think my mother and Prim are here?"

His eyes closed slightly and he scratched at the slight stubble that appeared "Probably, by now somebody must have shoveled a path. I should get out there, help out."

She frowned and pushed back the hair that came out of her braid "What do you do anyways, you're out all day."

He raised an eyebrow "You've been watching me?"

Katniss threw her head back with a laugh "You wish."

"I don't have to wish for anything from this position." He smirked and she shoved his shoulder before climbing off him.

"Come on." She pulled him to his feet "rise and shine."

Peeta yawned and stretched, his shirt rising slightly and revealing enough muscle to make Katniss blush despite her better judgement. After unsuccessfully pushing hair away from his eyes he turned to smile at her.

"I'm going to go."

"I'll walk you out" she offered a little too quickly.

The air between them lacked any of the tension that was to be expected between two people who could barely even consider each other friends before the past evening and who had just woken up together. They felt… comfortable. As if something had finally clicked. Maybe it was because neither of them had slept in ages and were currently on cloud nine. No matter the reason, when Peeta reached the front door, wool cap pulled over his ears, jacket buttoned up, and boots laced up Katniss didn't want to see him go. It made her feel disappointed and a little hollow. She tried to hide it, but she had never been really good at masking her emotions.

"You could come with me, to help out; it'll give you something to do." He offered with a kind smile that she eagerly returned.

Since when was she so willing to jump on opportunities to spent time with another person who wasn't her sister? Since when was she desperate for something to do? Since when did she question her actions?

"I'll just go shower." She motioned back towards the darkened house, and for some reason blushed with embarrassment.

"I'll come back." He smiled once more before heading back towards his house, last night's footprints long gone.

Katniss shut the door quickly and pressed her back to the heavy smooth wood. Her eyes were wide and her heart beat a little quicker than usual, the reason, unknown to her. Her lips curved into the ghost of a smile and she dared not question it, she was already confused as it was.

"Good night sleep, hmm?" a soft voice asked with the air of mockery and her eyes snapped upwards in surprised, she felt as if she had just been caught doing something wrong.

Prim grinned smugly at her from the top of the staircase wiping her hands on a washcloth. She raised her eyebrows inquisitorially as she slowly descended.

"Yes, it was nice." Katniss answered indifferently as she headed towards the kitchen undoing the giant knot that had once been her braid.

"And did _Peeta _have a goodnight as well?" Katniss could hear the grin in her sister's voice as she trailed behind her.

Katniss turned to face her younger sister and set down the mug she had taken out of the cupboard "Prim, shouldn't you be in the Seam working?"

She widened her eyes playfully "Oooh, defensive. Did _more_ than sleep happen on that couch?"

"_Prim_!" Katniss exclaimed, mortified.

The blond girl rolled her eyes and turned away from her to pull some of Peeta's bread out of the giant paper bag "This is some good stuff; your boyfriend went all out."

Katniss groaned and very lowly said through clenched teeth, in hopes that no one would overhear "He's _not_ my boyfriend."

Prim laughed "Didn't sound like it to me. '_Oh Peeta, _please, _please _don't go!'" she dramatically draped her hand over her forehead and Katniss smacked her with a washcloth repeatedly.

Laughing Prim jumped away from her and raised her arms in surrender "_Anyways, _I'm here just to pick up some stuff and to make sure you eat something. _Then _I'm going back to work, unless you need me or something…?"

Katniss sighed and threw her head back, dropping the slice of bread she had been buttering up in the process "You just want to talk about what I'm doing today, don't you?"

Prim gave her a much too innocent expression "That _isn't _what I meant, but if you're willing to give up the information who am _I _to stop you? I mean I-"

"_Fine!"_ Katniss rubbed her temple "If it will shut you up, I'm going to spend the day with Peeta. _Not _like that!" she turned to glare at her sister "we're just two people who enjoy each other's company, it's not _weird_. It's normal, natural, we're _close_. Prim, I-"

"Katniss, you don't have to explain anything to me." Prim interrupted her with a smile and a gentle squeeze on her shoulder "Just keep this in mind," she added with a conspiratorial tone "_friends _don't sleep together, _especially _the way you two do. Just think about that."

"_Prim_!" Katniss shouted and stomped her foot as Prim skipped out of the room with a cheerful giggle.

….

"All set?"

Katniss nodded as she tugged at the hem of her gloves nervously. She was sitting on the bench on her porch patiently waiting. Peeta leaned against a pillar by the elbow ever-present grin plastered on his face. She breathed deeply, collected her thoughts, supressed her nerves and stood with weak knees.

What was the thing with Peeta that got her heart racing?

As they made their way down the street towards the gate of the Victor's Village Peeta nudged her with his elbow "We're a little quiet today?"

She rolled her eyes towards him in that 'isn't it obvious?' matter "I'm always quiet."

He frowned and crossed his arms putting distance between them "Oh, alright"

She sighed loudly. How much more frustrating could this day get? Grabbing onto his arm and shaking him a little she whined "No, I didn't mean it like that, _Peeta_."

He laughed lightly and shook his head "I'm _teasing_ you."

Now she crossed her arms and put a good yard between them "Oh."

"_Katniss_!" he groaned.

"Am I not allowed to tease you?"'

They made their way past the gates and instantly fell quiet. It was as if reality slapped them hard on the face. There was no time for infantile games, laughter, or friendship. District Twelve was under a permanent dark cloud of the freezing cold and stark poverty. Some people had fallen face down on the snow, too weak to continue walking, others dead. Bodies were being collected by wheelbarrow, peacekeepers patrolled the streets, discouraging any lingering, hungering for someone to punish.

Instinctively Katniss and Peeta reached for each other's hand and squeezed with all their might.

"What do we do now?" Katniss whispered her voice rang with a fear that made her flinch at her own weakness.

Peeta tugged her along "We'll go help out however we can, come on."

"I thought charity was illegal. How are we supposed to help, what with all the new peacekeepers?" she hissed "Peeta, they could have you wiped."

He looked over his shoulder at her, his blue eyes incredulous, eyebrow raised "And you think I actually care? I would gladly die doing the right thing."

Her heart swelled. She already thought the world of Peeta. He was fundamentally good, honest, and funny. But this, this was amazing. He was amazing.

He dragged her along; Katniss was a little star struck.

"Okay." She said after a long moment, blushing fiercely, to Peeta's confusion- was she cold? "What do we do first?"

"First." Peeta smiled coming to a stop before a particular shop in the merchant's part of town. "First, we fill my bag and your game bag with bread and hand the stuff out to as many people as we can; discreetly, for the people's safety." His smile fell as he looked through the bakery's window "But we have to wait for my mother to leave."

Katniss nodded "Will this take all day? Handing out the bread I mean."

"No." he looked off into the distance, probably looking for something. "After we hand out the bread we could help people with their houses. Most people have leaks and drafts, horrible at this time of year. After that I normally end up helping Prim and your mother."

Her eyes widened "How come I didn't know this? You're a healer?"

He laughed at that "_No. _But most of the ill are in too bad of a condition to walk over to your mom. They need someone to help them walk or to pull their wagon."

Katniss looked around the perimeter, making sure no one would overhear her next comment "What are you? _Jesus_?"

His eyes widened at that name. No one spoke of Religion in public. Religion had been forbidden during the Dark Days because most religious topics were too _rebellious_. The Catholic Religion alone had too much material to use against the Capitol, that's why the number of Bibles in District Twelve was down to four. Love thy neighbour? You shall not kill? Heaven? A forgiving God that speaks of a better world after death and that all men are equal? There was no way that the Capitol would allow such a thing, that's why religious practices normally happened in the dead of night hidden behind closed doors.

Katniss never had much time for Religion herself, she was too busy hunting, but she was a firm believer. Her favorite story was the one of Joan of Arc, it was inspiring. It let her believe that she wasn't the only one that had ever wanted to go against the system, _do _something, _fight _for something.

Not that she ever would, maybe if the circumstances were different.

"Katniss." He said in a warning tone and stepped close enough to her to kiss her "not here, you know it's not safe."

She sighed and dropped her head unto his shoulder "I know I'm sorry."

He hugged her "its fine, just, one illegal activity at a time okay?"

She giggled, which surprised both of them. Katniss hadn't giggled since age eleven "You got it." They were silent and she wrapped her arms around him as well, squeezing his torso "Is she gone yet?"

"No, you'll just have to keep hugging me" he whispered and she just knew he was smiling.

She laughed and looked up at him, immediately blushing when she realized how close their faces were but neither of them backed away. "I _will _keep hugging you then."

He smirked "Alright."

"Is this weird?" she whispered.

"Oddly, no"

"I think we lack basic emotions, both of us are _never_ uncomfortable" she blinked and let him lean his forehead against hers.

Peeta was about to say something when a door hitting a wall startled them to turn and look at the bakery. Rye, the middle child of the Mellark household, was leaning against the doorway with a smirk. "Either you lovebirds get a room or you get your asses in here already, Mom just left."

"Nice to see you too, Rye; shouldn't you be making out with someone behind a tree or something?" Katniss asked as she walked past him and into the warm bakery.

"You're just saying that because you're lusting after me." Rye said after giving Peeta his customary hair ruffle as a greeting.

Katniss followed Rye into the kitchen "And why would I want you when I could have your brother instead?"

At this comment Peeta froze behind her with wide eyes but composed himself quickly, he knew she was simply teasing. To hide his embarrassment he began to shove bread into his bag. _She didn't mean it like that. _Sourdough. _She didn't mean it like that. _Baguette. _She didn't mean it like that. _Wholegrain.

Rye must have left the room because Katniss came up to him and bumped his hip with her own. She would never risk allowing another human being to see her carefree side. No, if things went Katniss' way there would be rumor going around claiming she was made of ice, or steel, or something. Katniss, the girl who sings, makes you tea, and cares for you could not meet the public eye. Not that Peeta minded much, he was an acquaintance of Katniss' nice side.

"What do I do, Mr. Baker?" she said with a grin, enjoying her own joke too much.

"Fill your bag; I'll leave enough money in the cash register." He looked over the bread on the counter, there should be enough to feed a good amount of the Seam and not put his father behind on production.

"Okay." She smiled but threw a concerned glance his way "Are you alright? It looks like you have something on your mind." She bumped his hip again "come on tell me, you've trusted me with your life before, I'm sure I can handle this."

_Oh no you can't, _he thought "I'm fine, Katniss. I'm just a little under the weather."

She frowned, seeing straight through the lie but she played along anyways. She knew being pushed for answers wasn't very pleasant "Do you want to go back home? The cold could be the problem…"

"I'm fine I swear." He answered quickly.

"Okay..." she frowned and began tossing bread into her game bag, a little hurt in all honesty, she didn't understand what could be such a problem that he wouldn't tell her. What had happened that would make him go from a light teasing mood into a fully-fledged shut down mode? Katniss ran her fingers along the smooth wooden counter feeling slightly doubtful about whether or not her company was welcome. Maybe Peeta really didn't like her around after all.

The kitchen doors opened but Katniss didn't turn to look, lost in her own thoughts. She would do this thing with the bread, in this task she was of use. This way they could bring some sort of food to more people than Peeta could on his own. Yes, she would provide for the Seam, it was only the right thing to do whether Peeta liked her or not.

Why did his opinion of her matter to her so much? Why couldn't she shake off all that disappointment?

Katniss gulped down her insecurities and focused on the bread. _One task at a time, don't overthink things, just one task at a time. _Neatly she arranged the bread so that she could maximize the space within her game bag, making sure that she would carry as much as she could.

Her game bag made a loud noise when it dropped to the floor since the room was silent. Peeta had left to fill the cash register with the appropriate amount of money, and she'd assumed that the door opening and closing was him, but…

She gasped as she realized who held her wrist in a painful way, beginning to twist. She returned Mrs. Mellark's glare with a passion she'd been bottling up for the past five years.

"What is this filth in _my_ kitchen?" she spat, not even bothering to direct her words at Katniss, instead opting to shout loud enough for any of the men of the house to hear.

"_Filth? _The truly repulsive one in this room is standing before me." Katniss countered, acid biting at her tone.

"Mother, let go of her." A voice said firmly, with a chilling calm. Katniss shivered, she would recognize his voice anywhere, but that tone was alien to her. She could feel Peeta's presence, his anger, behind her. The heat of his emotions raised gooseflesh across her back.

"Of course, the _bastard _let her in."

Who calls their own child a bastard?

"Let go of my hand." Katniss tugged and the woman twisted her wrist painfully.

"You're stealing my bread!" she shouted.

"We've paid for it." Katniss spoke calmly than she believed she was capable of "now release my wrist."

Mrs. Mellark pulled her towards the back door, all the while twisting her arm in a painful position "If no one will get this trash out of my kitchen I'll have to toss her into the street myself."

Suddenly Katniss was spun around, her arm no longer in the woman's grip, her small form hidden behind Peeta's suddenly overbearing frame. "I told you to let go of her, Mother. We're both paying customers taking their paid goods. Also, we both know you have no right to kick her out of the kitchen, it isn't yours, its fathers and it's only a matter of time before it's mine. Rye and Barley don't want the bakery." All of this was said in a rather tense voice, as if he was making a physical effort not to shout.

"You ungrateful scum! You shall not speak to your mother this way you-" her voice halted with her arm, which was raised, holding a large wooden rolling pin headed for Peeta's direction. It was blocked by Peeta's hand, which wrapped around the rolling pin and yanked it out of his mother's hold. Gently he set it on the counter.

"I shall speak to you however I want; you're no mother of mine. You're only the woman who gave birth to me." He turned away from her, dismissing her with his cold words "Katniss, do we have enough bread?" she only managed to nod quickly, sure, there was enough space for five more loaves but there was no way she was sticking around to get them. Peeta nodded. "Good, let's go. Bye Rye! Barley! Dad!" the last part he shouted as he escorted Katniss towards the front of the bakery. His call was responded with a chorus of good-byes.

All the while Mrs. Mellark stared at the back of his pretty blond head, dumbfounded.

"Peeta, talk to me."

Katniss stopped in her tracks; he walked a little before stopping and turning to look at her, his face drawn, his eyes hard. Katniss shivered as she looked over his expression and not because of the cold. For a moment all that was between them was the thin cloud that materialized as either of them breathed. Her heart was racing as she attempted to come up with the correct combination of words to cross the bridge Peeta had created to distance himself from her for the past twenty minutes. All his smiles were offered to the people of the Seam when they thanked him thousands of times for a single loaf. Katniss knew thought, the people were oblivious to it but Katniss knew, she knew when Peeta was forcing a smile and every single one since their encounter with Mrs. Mellark at the bakery kitchen had been a well-crafted façade. How many things did she want to shout at the wind for him to see the truth, to lift his spirits, she was filled with rushed phrases that made little sense.

Instead of saying any of those things she walked over to him and looked him in the eye "She doesn't matter anymore."

Peeta sighed and averted her gaze "I don't want to talk about this."

Katniss nodded and squeezed his arm "That's perfectly understandable, I just… well you know… I'm here, if… if that helps you in any way."

He smiled; his eyes still held that darkness yet managed to brighten a little for her "That's good to know Katniss. Come on, we've only got a dozen loaves left."

People in the Seam were very much alike in their pride. Most were not fond of charity, with the same dignity as Katniss herself. This is why she was taken aback by how well people responded to Peeta's coming. He must have been coming often for children, big and small, sat waiting by their doorways bouncing excitedly from foot to foot. They were bundled up in their warmest coats; some even had gloves that were likely missing a finger or two. The moment Peeta's blond head of hair came into view, like a beacon of hope, children rushed out of their doorways towards him. The truly great thing was they didn't only come for his bread, no, the bread was like an added bonus. To them Peeta was this fun, different creature. They rushed towards him their faces all smiles with thousands of questions and stories to tell, all to which Peeta listened patiently to.

Eventually, some adults peaked out to see what all the fuss was about. Some saw Peeta's familiar face waved and went back to their tasks; others joined the children and conversed with Peeta as if he were an old friend of theirs.

An old woman, who had no teeth had spotted Peeta and smiled. She walked towards him and Peeta's attention peaked, a smile spreading across his own face.

"Madea!" he shouted a greeting when she came near enough, the old woman cradled his face and kissed both his cheeks and held him in a hug weakened by her age. They pulled away and the woman chuckled playfully slapping his right cheek in mock disapproval.

"Peeta, Peeta, Peeta, you should know better than to bring a young lady with you and not bring her to me immediately, ol' Madea may disapprove." She winked and turned to smile at Katniss.

A little girl who was only in an oversized ratty raincoat and worn wool socks giggled and tugged on Peeta's hand "Now we wouldn't want _that_."

Peeta rolled his eyes but smiled "Katniss, Madea. Madea, Katniss."

The older woman waved her hand dismissively "Oh boy, I know who she is. She's the young girlie that gives you all those kisses."

The little kids laughed and Peeta looked away slightly embarrassed. Katniss ginned and poked the ribs of her blond companion. "Yeah, that's me. He's been behaving right? Should I chase him around?" she winked.

Madea grinned "Oh yes, he's a good one, you ain't got anything to worry about."

Katniss turned her head to give Peeta a look "he better be."

They continued to distribute the bread, getting caught up in a number of different conversations as they went. Peeta really was a people person; he seemed to be able to relate to everyone. Everyone could be comfortable talking to him. Katniss wished they could do more; so many children were barely covered with enough clothing to protect them from the heavy chill.

Quickly all they could find in their bags were crumbs.

"That was great!" Katniss turned towards him with an enthusiastic look on her flushed face "what else can we do?"

"Most men and women are at the mines. Some people's houses need some basic repairs; we'll do what we can." He adjusted her scarf and tugged his wool cap off and placed it over her ears.

Katniss ran her fingers along the buttons on his coat; they needed mending "Can we bring some shoes next time? Snow is no weather for children to walk around in their socks."

He nodded "Sure thing, _Kitten_."

Katniss rolled her eyes and laughed, one of the kids they met along the way had dubbed her Kitten for some unknown reason, and apparently, for the foreseeable future it was going to stick.

"Don't make fun of me baker, you were named after bread." She pointed at him like a teacher scolding their student and walked ahead.

"Peeta? Can you see anything up there?" Kathleen, a child who Katniss had recently met at the age of five, asked from her spot on the cold floor beside her. They had been here for an hour trying to fix the problem with the houses fireplace.

"Uh, yeah, Kath will you run to the Hob and get some rope from Greasy Sae? Take your brother with you. Katniss I'll need your help."

Once the door closed behind the brown-haired girl Peeta popped out of the fireplace covered in soot. He looked like a miner "There's a dead animal up there."

Katniss nodded and stood "I figured, it stinks in here, can you get it down?"

He coughed "Yeah, I just didn't want Kathleen here for that. Won't be very pretty." He glanced around the room "Get the garbage can."

What Peeta pulled out of the chimney could only be described as a corpse. From what either of them could recollect it had once been a racoon, which was now in various different forms of decomposition. Its front paws were charred from the fire place, skin and tissue missing in certain places, the bone visible. With its release came the appearance of different insects and soot. They cleaned up as best they could and carried the garbage can outside.

As they finished Kathleen reappeared with a modest amount of rope which Peeta used to repair the area above the fire in the hearth that the child's family occupied for cooking. Overall he did a good job. Peeta was good at being handy man.

"Have dinner at my house." Katniss interrupted the comfortable silence between them with her sudden request. They were making their way back home, both exhausted yet content.

"Normally I would try to refuse, which would lead to a useless argument, mostly lead by you and next thing I'd know I'd be at your house. Since I'm tired and don't wanna cook I'll just bite the bullet and say… Yes please." He smiled weakly, his exhaustion blatantly obvious.

She pushed open her door and simultaneously stomped her boots on the welcome mat "We both need soap; we look like something that crawled out of the gutter."

"Were we working with a gutter at any point today?" Peeta questioned as he shrugged off his coat.

Katniss laughed "I actually don't know!"

As they peeled off their layers they could hear some activity from the kitchen, but they were far enough not to disturb anyone. Silently they made their way to the upstairs bathroom, once inside they stared at their reflections for a minute with amused surprise.

"Peeta, I can barely see you under that layer of dust."

"All I can see are your eyes, Kitten."

There were enough bathrooms in this house for both of them to shower but… who has the time when you're hungry? They dampened some towels and set about scrubbing dust off each other's faces. They washed their hands and cleaned under their nails. In the end Katniss had to run to change her shirt since she somehow got mud on it.

The thing to be learnt that evening was that Prim did not possess the virtue of discretion. She was filled with knowing smiles, winks, and suggestive questions. She could really play the painful sibling to the T. Their dinner was nowhere near done, Peeta was having the entertainment experience of his life and Katniss was three more winks away from fainting out of shame and discomfort.

"So Peeta, are you sleeping over tonight?" Prim leaned against the kitchen counter and fluttered her eyelashes innocently.

Katniss almost dropped the knife she had been using to cut the vegetables her mother had instructed her to "_Prim!_"

Before this could erupt into any form of argument Peeta intersected "Prim, I don't think that's a very appropriate question. You and that Rory Hawthorne on the other hand, I believe that is what all of _us_ want to know about, right Kitten?"

Katniss grinned conspiratorially "Oh Yeah."

Prim blushed "W-what 'bout Rory? Did you just call my sister Kitten?"

Peeta leaned his elbows on the kitchen table he was seated at "Yes I did, now back to _Rory_-"

"I heard my name!" shouted a young male's voice as the front door opened and closed again. Katniss turned to give Peeta a questioning look, he shrugged and bit into an apple he picked up from the kitchen tables fruit basket. Prim smiled.

"The Hawthorne's are here!" The young girl squealed and skipped towards the front of the house. _Right_, Katniss thought, _Sunday dinner. Wait, Sunday? _Her fingers halted their movement _Hunting day._

Oops.

* * *

_**Thanks for reading and don't forget to review. Remember, I value your opinion and consider it a lot when writing. Your reviews motivate me to keep going!**_

_**Cassandraishere.**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Regarding the whole Eve discussion, do not worry that is in the future, I just wanted your opinion. This chapter is more of a filler, I had Gale react the way he did because I felt it was more natural. I know you guys have more questions but I'm not answering for the sake of suspense, he he.**_

_**You said I was the most exotic flower**_  
_**Holding me tight in our final hour**_

_**I don't know how you convince them and get them, but**_  
_**I don't know what you do, it's unbelievable**_  
_**And I don't know how you get over, get over**_  
_**Someone as dangerous, tainted and flawed as you**_

_**One for the money, and two for the show**_  
_**I love you honey, I'm ready, I'm ready to go**_  
_**How did you get that way? I don't know**_  
_**You're screwed up and brilliant,**_  
_**Look like a million dollar man,**_  
_**So why is my heart broke?**_

_**You got the world but baby at what price?**_  
_**Something so strange, hard to define**_

_**It isn't that hard boy to like you or love you**_  
_**I'd follow you down down down,**_  
_**You're unbelievable**_  
_**If you're going crazy just grab me and take me**_  
_**I'd follow you down down down, anywhere anywhere**_

_**One for the money, two for the show**_  
_**I love you honey, I'm ready, I'm ready to go**_  
_**How did you get that way? I don't know**_  
_**You're screwed up and brilliant,**_  
_**Look like a million dollar man,**_  
_**So why is my heart broke?**_

_**One for the money, two for the show**_  
_**I love you honey, I'm ready, I'm ready to go**_  
_**How did you get that way? I don't know**_  
_**You're screwed up and brilliant,**_  
_**Look like a million dollar man,**_  
_**So why is my heart broke?**_

_**I don't know,**_  
_**You're screwed up and brilliant,**_  
_**Look like a million dollar man,**_  
_**So why is my heart broke?**_

_**Lana Del Rey- Million Dollar Man.**_

_**This updates appearance means I didn't do my homework, oops.**_

**__****Euthalia- F. Ancient Greek na**me, means "bloom, flower" I thought it was appropriate for an Everdeen.

**_Winter_**

**_By: Cassandraishere_**

**_I don't own the Hunger Games, if I did Catching Fire would frustrate less Everlack fans._**

* * *

"Should you be eating that before dinner?" Katniss raised her eyebrow to look Peeta over with disapproval "Wouldn't that ruin your appetite?"

He was on his seventh fruit, it was a pear "Katniss, I'm a sixteen-year-old boy. My appetite is never ending. I could probably eat something as large as you and still go for seconds."

She rolled her eyes and poked at the meat her mother was roasting, it shifted a little, was that a good sign? Bad? A sign at _all_? She honestly didn't know Katniss' forte was nowhere near the kitchen.

The Hawthorne's and the other two Everdeen's were currently enjoying some friendly conversation in the common room as Katniss hid from her confused best friend and her newest friend raided her kitchen as if he hadn't ate in fifteen years, he'd now found his way to her peanut butter. According to his facial expression it went well with pears.

"Kitten?" she turned at the sound of her new pet name she was surprisingly comfortable with "do you want some?" Peeta held out the peanut butter, a small smudge of jelly she wasn't aware of him having consumed on the side of his mouth, he looked comical.

"Sure." She hopped onto the counter beside him and ate some peanut butter off his spoon. Without thinking about it she wiped the jelly off with her thumb and sucked on it.

"Peanut butter and jelly, that's a good combination." She mused going back to the spoon.

Peeta huffed loudly "What the hell do we do when the Quell comes? The Victory Tour? How are we supposed to mentor for the rest of our lives?"

Katniss set down the peanut butter "Peeta, I barely know what I'm going to do tomorrow, let alone the rest of our lives."

"I don't think… Katniss, I don't think I can do it… not for you know… _forever_." He whispered and hung his head.

"No Peeta I…" she scooted closer to him and wrapped her arms around him; her nose buried in his shoulder "I need you."

"K-" he began but she placed her finger on his lips and turned his face towards hers, their noses touched.

"I need you, Peeta. I can't do this without you." She smiled sadly "Okay?"

He sighed and hoarsely said "Sure Kitten."

"Sorry to interrupt!" They both turned their heads slightly to see Prim skip into the kitchen, the empty wicker basket they used for bread in her hands. Katniss and Peeta didn't shift from their hugging position, Katniss rolled her eyes, and Peeta smirked.

"Don't be antisocial guys! Come on we have tea." Prim shot them a smile as she filled up the basket with the bread form the large paper bag. Apparently they were plentiful in rolls. "And we all know neither of you can cook to save your life."

"I'm a baker, thank you very much!" Peeta grinned and got a superior look about him.

"I don't think you can live off on bread only." Katniss said seriously "We'll be just another minute, okay Prim?"

Prim nodded and skipped out of the room, they could both hear her say "They'll be just another minute!"

Katniss rolled her eyes again and turned her focus back on Peeta "You can't leave me."

His blue eyes looked wounded and so very sad "I can't do this anymore…"

His words broke her heart, he was right of course. Neither of them could do this show anymore; All the smiling, the dancing, the kissing, and the deaths so many deaths. How could she possibly ask something like that of him? If only they had Nightlock, maybe she could leave this world behind with him, without any fear. The Hanging Three came to mind, the song was right freedom could only be found beyond the grave.

But what about Prim? Her mother and his father, his two brothers? They couldn't just leave them in this dark world to fend for themselves. They had people to protect; they couldn't act selfishly when it came to such precious lives. Yet, who is to say that they wouldn't be taken away anyways, in one way or another. There had to be a way for them to live happily.

"Peeta… please… don't do this, don't do this to me." She attempted to keep her tears at bay as they mingled with her eyelashes. "If you go… I'll go with you. You can't convince me otherwise."

Peeta sighed and closed his eyes, he stayed like this for a minute or two before jumping off the counter with her in tow "Come on we've got a dinner to eat, Kitten."

"But Peeta… I-I'm serious about-"

"We'll talk about it later." He interrupted and tugged on her hand firmly "Come on."

The moment Peeta laid eyes on the food he dropped her hand and embraced his new passion, meat. Katniss rolled her eyes and followed him to where her mother was handing out slices of the animal. As she sat down beside him she poked him. "How do you have enough space to eat so much?"

He looked at her as if she should know the answer to that question "Excuse you, I've been around you all day and we haven't stopped to eat something at any point today. All I had was some bread I found on my kitchen counter. You should be starved as well."

Now that she thought about it they hadn't eaten anything all day, it took one bite for her stomach to react like a ravenous animal. She turned to Peeta again "Pass me the potatoes"

Her universe had been reduced to the food before her; she didn't realize that someone was attempting to gain her attention until Peeta poked her cheek with the clean side of his fork. She jumped slightly.

"Gale's talking to you." He motioned with the fork and she turned to look across the table.

The whole table laughed softly at her cluelessness, Peeta stole a bread roll off her while she was distracted. She wasn't eating it.

"Sorry." Katniss blushed "You were saying?"

Gale gave her a funny look, "I said what did you do today? I didn't see you at all."

Prim grinned "Katniss spent the whole day with _Peeta_,"

Peeta smirked; Katniss gave her sister a shocked look "_Prim_."

"What? That is what you did today right? Unless you two were up to more things, _private_ thi-"

"Okay, that's enough Prim." Peeta said firmly but not unkindly, Katniss' dark skin tone was blushing furiously.

"You're hiding something." Prim said in a singsong voice.

"_Prim._" Both Katniss and Peeta said at the same time.

Prim only snickered triumphantly.

"Well, yeah, I spent the day with Peeta. Sorry Gale, I forgot it was Sunday." Katniss looked at Peeta with mock disapproval when she noticed her bread roll missing, the blond boy shrugged while smiling sheepishly.

"What did you guys do?"

Katniss and Peeta turned to glance at each other, almost as if programmed by clockwork. What could they say? Word got around quick, and their activities wouldn't stay secret for long. The house was bugged but Katniss had spoken about hunting under its roof before. It wasn't the fact that the activity was illegal, but it was the house itself. It wasn't their safe heaven; it wasn't a place to be free because the Capitol had found a way to wiggle its way into their personal lives. So in a matter of second it was agreed, the message relayed by a glance of their eyes, they weren't to speak about this in here, at the table like the ideal family. Even if their spies already knew, if Peeta had already talked about it the night before, no matter what, it felt wrong to speak of at that moment. With an invisible nod to everyone but Katniss Peeta answered the question seamlessly.

"We went for a walk; this house gets stuffy in winter especially since Katniss doesn't have anything else to do now."

Gale looked them over with clear disapproval written across his features, her heart sunk. Had she hurt is feelings by missing a hunting day? She had only spent one day with Peeta, they were friends, and it wasn't like she was replacing her best friend.

Well was Gale really her best friend?

She couldn't talk to him the way she knew she could talk to Peeta. She couldn't imagine a scenario where she would be comfortable falling asleep on the couch on top of Gale, she couldn't see them talking about their deepest fears, she couldn't imagine going through the hardest experience in her lifetime –The Hunger Games- with Gale. All she could ever picture doing with Gale was killing animals and maybe tossing around a generic joke or two. Even jokes were much more fun said to Peeta.

She pushed away these thoughts, she wasn't about to reconsider her friendship with Gale, it just was what it was. Sure, it hadn't sprouted as easily as any conversation she'd had with Peeta but it was a good, sturdy friendship.

"Well, I went hunting. The animals are migrating, not much is left out there, some plants can be dug up, and there's the occasional squirrel." Gale spoke casually as he stabbed the vegetables in his plate.

"Will someone pass me the pepper?" Katniss wondered, anxious to get off the topic of hunting, and anything else illegal.

"Hey Prim, you never answered our Rory question." Peeta grinned at Prim when she dropped her fork at his words.

"What about me?" Rory questioned, confused.

Katniss smiled "I don't know, what about Rory, Prim?"

"I don't know, _Kitten._" The blond girl countered

Gale frowned, confused, and tore his bread in half. Mrs. Everdeen was laughing at something Hazelle said.

"Kitten?" Gale stuffed his face with bread "what's with that?"

"_Peeta _gave Katniss a pet name." Prim supplied helpfully and stuck her tongue out towards her sister.

Peeta rolled his eyes "It's not a pet name, it just happened." He said for Katniss' benefit. He was on her team. Katniss simply turned to smile at him, _'thanks.'_

Dinner continued on, Peeta said something funny, Katniss laughed with everyone else. Gale asked if he could be free to call her Catnip, complain free, since Peeta got away with Kitten, Katniss only laughed. No. Prim continued on to insinuate things between Katniss and Peeta, Katniss ate most of the bread, Possy wondered aloud about the Quarter Quell before any of her brothers could stop her. Both Katniss and Peeta grew very quiet after that.

Dinner wasn't exactly a relaxed affair; there was an odd air of hostility directed towards Peeta from Gale whom was seated across from Katniss. Peeta didn't seem to mind, he sat beside her, cracking jokes, making Prim blush over Rory, and repeatedly eating off Katniss' plate since she ate off his as well. Prim defended herself against the Rory comments with mockery, such as, 'how does Peeta's mouth taste like?' Katniss was no longer embarrassed at this point, only annoyed; she said he ironically tasted like bread and that she should try it sometime. Peeta laughed hard and gave Katniss a well-deserved high five. Mrs. Everdeen scolded both of them, but was smiling as well. All Gale did was roll his eyes.

Peeta left soon after dinner, he successfully helped put the dirty dishes in the sink but was ushered out by all the Everdeen's. No guest of theirs would wash the dishes. He smiled and said he was off to visit Haymitch, after accepting some broth for the drunken mentor he was off, leaving Katniss and Gale alone to wash the dishes while Prim entertained Rory, Vick and Posy. The older women in the house were seated by the fireplace, chatting.

Gale dried and stored while Katniss washed. She was having a particularly hard time with a spoon when he spoke.

"So Peeta, huh?"

That was the least descriptive comment that she'd ever heard "Yes Peeta exists." She replied.

"_No_." Gale stacked a series of plates "I meant, you and Blondie, you know, huh."

"Yes Gale, Peeta and I are very much involved in the sport of _huhing._" She grinned at his irritated expression as she passed him a glass.

He rolled his eyes and concentrated on his task. He would not react too dramatically over this; Peeta Mellark had already shoved his tongue down her throat on National television and then he hadn't been this distraught. He could manage whatever sort of connection they had now. But dammit, he had never seen two people that comfortable with each other, except maybe his parents. He shook off whatever that implied and focused on not cutting himself with the knife he was drying.

"You know, I'm honestly concerned about the whole Prim and Rory thing, should we keep them away from each other?" Katniss chewed on her lip before continuing "I mean, it may be a little too cruel… it's not like something _bad _could happen but… I just didn't believe Peeta when he said that the worst thing that they'd probably done by now was hold hands, Prim is twelve Gale, twelve, well she'll be thirteen soo-"

"You already talked to Peeta about this?" he was taken aback; Katniss wasn't known to be very talkative.

"Well yeah, it came up last night while we were playing chess." Katniss continued washing, not seeing what he found so wrong with that answer.

"Last night? Katniss the snow cleared around one in the afternoon. What? How?" he dreaded her answer.

Katniss smiled "Prim's been teasing me since, Peeta spent the night here with me." She continued washing, not seeing how much that answer disturbed him.

"You were in an empty house, with him, for _hours_?" he set down the knife; he could harm himself unknowingly otherwise.

"Mmhmm." She passed him a plate; he didn't dry it, only held it. "It was fun; we tried to stay up, ended up passing out on the couch." She began to drain the soapy water "Here I'll help you put some of this stuff away."

Why wasn't she having the proper reaction to this piece of information? "Do you _not _see what's wrong with that entire picture?"

Katniss gave him a funny look "Um, no." she threw a rag at him "C'mon, dry the plate and give me a hand."

He staggered a little, not having been expecting the rag, but got to work. They were silent, Gale tense and bothered, Katniss relaxed and humming under her breath. Did they need to clean that window? Maybe she would, she had so much free time. She closed the glass-fronted cabinet doors and turned to face her friend "So Prim and Rory, what do you think?"

"They're good kids, let them be." He said absentmindedly and Katniss made a face, not liking that he agreed with Peeta, and honestly, he didn't like it either but it was the truth. Prim and Rory weren't up to any ill-fated misadventures. Katniss and that Peeta Mellark on the other hand, that was a different story all together in his book.

"Are you okay, Gale?" she put a handful of utensils away in a drawer "if you glare at the kitchen counter anymore it may just burst into flames."

He smiled "Nah, I'm fine, just had a rough week at the mines."

Katniss looked concerned "If you let me help you your shift could be shorter, you wouldn't need such long hours."

He waved her off as usual "I'm fine, Catnitp."

She believed him.

Katniss Everdeen really hated her bedroom. It wasn't because it was ugly, small, or inadequate in any way or form. Her bedroom was a luxury. It had a bathroom with a spacious tub and shower, hardwood floors, wide windows with a beautiful view of Twelve and Peeta's house, a soft area rug which someone had once called Persian –whatever that was, and a spacious bed that felt like a cloud. The thing she hated about her bedroom was what happened within its beautiful wallpapered walls. Her screams at night would pierce the still air after she was infected by yet another bone chilling nightmare. There was no way around it, succumb to sleep, suffer.

She settled among her sheets with a book, planning on reading for as long as she could. It was something called 'Alice in Wonderland.' She didn't understand why the hatter was mad and why the rabbit was late unable to concentrate on the book because of her heavy eyelids. Frustrated she shut the book and threw it across the room. She sat there, huffing, thinking about inconsequential things to keep her mind occupied. Did she lock the front door? Her boots needed new laces, and Prim was in need of a new hair ribbon. She was sure she had a coin or two around this room, where did they keep the money? Maybe she could convince Peeta to let her mend the buttons on his coat. Peeta, did he know where she had put her gloves? How could she have lost them? She never lost anything. She had to go see Haymitch, in some twisted way she kind of missed him. Insomnia was really getting to her, fond thoughts of Haymitch? She shivered. If she got drunk at night would that prevent nightmares? Probably not; maybe she would forget them when she woke up, that seemed like something worth exchanging nausea for. Did she feed Buttercup? Who cares, let the thing die already…

She sat up in her bed and screamed. Her sweat drenched skin was hot despite the cool air. She'd just had a nightmare; every time she blinked she could see it. Prim, Peeta, Rue, mutts… It was too much for her. Her entire body was shaking and she felt as if the walls were closing in on her. Her door burst open and Prim ran in, looking disheveled from sleep, her eyes wide and worried. Katniss' heart constricted, in her mind she knew her sister had never come into any proximity of mutts, but seeing her alive and well was just such a relief.

"Katniss, you scared me, are you okay?" Her sister climbed into bed with her and rocked her in her arms like a small child. Katniss burst into tears, the room was still too small, her heart was racing, and despite her sister's best efforts she didn't feel comforted, she was on the verge of hysteria. She pulled herself out of her sister's arms and put on her father's hunting jacket over her nightgown, she jumped on one foot as she pulled on her boots over her sock clad feet.

"Is it alright if I go for a walk, Prim? I just… I need to breathe a little."

Her sister looked doubtful but nodded "sure, whatever will make you feel better."

Katniss walked about the Victors Village. The empty houses made her feel a little sick to her stomach, knowing what had to be done for someone to 'deserve' to live here. She shoved her hands in the coats pockets and continued to walk, gulping in as much of the frigid air as possible, cleaning her body of the foul dream, she didn't realize her destination until her feet halted and refused to take another step.

Of course she would go to Peeta's house.

All the lights were on, he wasn't having a goodnight either. Tentatively she knocked, still a little shaken from her distressing dream and waited looking around the cold December evening. There were icicles forming, they were having a white Christmas for sure.

The door opened, revealing an equally terrified Peeta. The bags under his eyes were pronounced, his hair disheveled, and his eyes looked sad. The moment she saw him she threw her arms around him in a tear-filled hug.

"You're okay!" she exclaimed, sounding pathetic.

"And so are you." He replied, voice filled with emotion as he hugged her fiercely and shut the door with his foot.

"I wish the nightmares would go away." She whispered into his shoulder and wrapped her legs around him when he began to half-lift half-drag her into the other room. She was simply making things easier for both of them.

They settled on his couch "Me too." He replied and sighed "but they won't."

She lifted her head a little and looked up at him; he looked so tragic "they do when you're with me."

"Same for me." He confessed and squeezed her a little "Would you…" he breathed deeply and continued to whisper "would you stay? Here… with me."

Katniss smiled "Why would I want to go anywhere else?"

Peeta's bedroom was everything hers wasn't, it was cozy and comfortable, and it was safe. Maybe that was because it belonged to him. The sheets smelled like him, and the pillow felt softer. They fit around each other like puzzle pieces meant to click together. His arms were strong and safe, his hands large and comforting as they stroked her back. Their noses almost touched as they observed each other, Peeta's finger ran along her spine and she shivered.

"Are you cold?" he murmured, misinterpreting her shiver.

She nodded anyways knowing Peeta would fix everything and her embarrassing reaction to him wouldn't be known.

He swung his leg over hers and tucked her closer into him, successfully warming her. Her fingertips grazed over the collar of his shirt as they both yawned simultaneously.

He smiled sleepily at her; his skin was warm wherever she touched him "everything feels so much better when you're here." He buried his nose in her hair and inhaled deeply.

Maybe that comment should have scared her; maybe they shouldn't be this comfortable with each other, this dependant on each other. But to her it was okay, this was Peeta, he wasn't going anywhere. She would never be scared as long as he was around to make things better, everything felt nicer with him by her side, and the world was just a little brighter when he smiled. Everything could be confronted if he accompanied her.

They would be okay.

"You make everything… safe." She whispered groggily, her words spilling out of her mouth without a second thought. She brushed some hair off his forehead and yawned again "Goodnight, Peeta."

"Goodnight, Kitten." He smiled and it felt like her heart would summer sault out of her chest.

No nightmares.

There was pounding at the front door and Peeta groaned beneath her. He rubbed his right eye and looked around. Katniss was keeping her eyes closed but she wasn't asleep. Her beautiful small form sprawled across him, her dark tresses everywhere. She frowned and fluttered her eyes open, pouting she looked deep into his eyes and open her mouth to speak and in that moment she was more beautiful than he'd ever seen her "Someone is trying to burst open your door."

"I noticed, maybe if we don't move they'll go away." He ran his fingers through her hair and she gave him a serious expression.

"What if it's an emergency?" she rolled off him and sat up crossed legged beside him "Peeta, something could have happened, go open the door."

"You do it." He complained and pulled a pillow over his head.

She shoved him "It's your house little baker." She grinned when he didn't move "Come on, please?"

"_Fine_." He groaned and basically fell out of bed, Katniss laughed loudly "keep laughing; I'll just have to carry you down with me."

She gasped and pulled the sheets around her as if it were some sort of protective barrier "You wouldn't."

"Is that a challenge?"

She squealed and squirmed away from him when he made an attempt to reach him "Peeta, _no_**. **Go answer the door, they sound desperate!" she was smiling, her voice getting higher pitched every time he pulled her towards him.

"Okay." He gave in, releasing her ankles, which he was using to pull her towards him, and clambered down the stairs "But I shall have my revenge!" he shouted over his shoulder.

She rolled her eyes "Mmhmm." She stood and tucked her hair behind her ears and set about making the bed. They both moved around a lot in their sleep, she found her sock under Peeta's pillow for some completely unknown reason. The sheets really smelt nice, like the happy warmth that surrounded Peeta Mellark. She was fluffing his pillows when she heard a familiar voice in hysterics.

"…She never came back! Said she was going out for a walk and I dossed off and… Peeta something could have happened to her! It's freezing out there! Why aren't you reacting?! Oh God, oh _God!_ Peeta say _something! _Oh my God"

"Prim? I'm right here." Katniss squinted her eyes a little at the bright light that the snow reflected into the house, she caught her sisters shocked expression when she saw her before she leapt up the stairs towards her two at a time, her small feet flew up the staircase and as quickly as humanly possible her sister enveloped her in a tight hug.

"Oh Katniss you had me so worried." Prim murmured into her hair "you should have left a note, just told me you were spending the night at Peeta's." Katniss squeezed her sister tightly and immediately felt guilt. Why didn't she consider her sisters emotions when fleeing her house?

"Would you ladies like some breakfast?" Peeta offered and Katniss nodded as best as she could with her sister holding her so tightly.

Katniss was not allowed to help in any way when it came to the cooking, Peeta and Prim did that. Katniss was pretty useless around the kitchen, she could barely boil water properly, there was no way she was willingly tackling pancakes. Instead she settled for watching Prim and Peeta and found herself smiling the entire time. They were already so happy around each other. It had taken Prim a while to warm up to Gale but Peeta… well Peeta was great. The blondes could joke freely- mostly at Katniss' expense- and could simply fall into a brother and sister relationship so easily it was as if it was meant to be.

They enjoyed a lovely conversation while they ate. Katniss hogged the maple syrup, Peeta swallowed most of the pancakes, and Prim informed them that some camera crews may arrive soon. According to the television Capitol people were starting to miss talking about them.

Katniss put on a faux serious face "Alright, Prim. You gotta go so that Peeta and I can practice our kisses for the cameras."

"Can we do head tilt, playful tongue this time? I've got the heavy stuff down now; I've even been practicing my moans." Peeta added with a grin.

"You guys are horrible." Prim shook her head with a grin of her own "also mother wants to speak to you, about what happened."

Katniss was taken aback by this; her mother hadn't been an active member of their family for five years. What could she possibly have to say? They had some idle chat, mostly led by the blondes in the room, as Katniss puzzled over her mother. She had been responsive lately; she was even smiling and laughing now. Could this be it? Could this really be the time her mother became lucid again? Was her mother really finished her eternal mourning period?

How was Katniss ever to forgive the woman? After all she'd done, after all the tears Katniss had shed at her feet while she begged for guidance, help _anything._ How was she to forget all those years spent in silence? How was she to ever release that hatred, disappointment, betrayal?

Much too soon Prim said her goodbyes and walked out of the house, Katniss stayed seated, thinking of her mother as Peeta did the dishes.

"You know, I've been considering setting myself on fire just for the heck of it." Peeta mused.

She turned to stare at him incredulously "Huh?"

He tossed the kitchen rag onto the counter and walked towards her, grinning he leaned against the back of a dinning chair "Katniss, I've been talking to you for the past fifteen minutes, you were away in your own world."

She ducked her head "Sorry, I've just got a lot on my mind."

Peeta gave her an understanding expression "How about this? Help me put away the dishes, I'll throw in some horrible jokes; get your mind off things. I'll be leaving soon, I need to take a shower so…"

"You need this finished quickly?" she lifted a brow and after a second he nodded. She stood, stretched a bit and waved him out of the kitchen "Go shower already, you smell."

With a scoff from him and a very unladylike laugh from her Peeta skipped up the stairs humming horribly out of tune.

Katniss sat on the floor at the foot of Peeta's bed, buying herself some time. She knew she had to leave at some point and actually see her mother, yet she would rather pluck her eyebrows than do so. She had a feeling that the conversation her mother wanted to have with her wouldn't be pleasant, she began to finger comb her hair to braid it, if making herself somewhat presentable would defuse any possibly tension she would do it.

Peeta walked into the room, looking fresh from his shower and sat crossed-legged before her. His blond hair was damp and he was dressed in grey draw-string pants and a white t-shirt, his eyes were impossibly blue. Light-heartedly he poked her shoulder "Playing chicken?"

She rolled her eyes "_No. _I'm just hiding in your bedroom, very different."

He nodded sarcastically "Oh, yes I see the difference, it is so incredibly blatant."

Katniss smiled "Shut up." After he dramatically sealed his lips she laughed and rolled her eyes "I just... well I kind of don't want to do this."

He lifted an eyebrow "Are you scared?"

"No." she said firmly and glared at him for even considering that "No, I just don't want to talk with my mother."

"Why not?"

"Why should I?" Katniss snapped unintentionally and breathed deeply "Honestly Peeta. The woman abandoned me when I needed her the most."

Peeta pulled her towards him, willingly she fell into his calming hug "Yes, but she has problems. She didn't intentionally leave, she was sick."

She hid her face in his shoulder "Why are you always right?"

"Because someone has to be the rational one, now go talk to your mom." He poked her ribs and she jumped away from him "Now that's the spirit, go Everdeen! Go!"

Katniss rolled her eyes and collected her discarded jacket and boots off the floor, she offered Peeta a sarcastic salute which he returned and strode out his bedroom door with her head held high. She hesitated at the front door, but Peeta's voice shouted out the bedroom door "Go Everdeen! Go!" she smiled and marched outside towards her house.

Fear was a funny emotion. Its coming paralyzed her and made her make rash decisions at times. Right now, Katniss was afraid. Normally throughout her lifetime she would suppress the emotion, since she couldn't afford to let it consume her when she had a family to support. Fear wasn't practical or trustworthy. Yet she'd carried a lot with her ever since The Hunger Games, something just didn't feel right about her victory, she felt as if there was a looming threat, just awaiting its chance to attack both her and Peeta.

She wondered why she was having such a strong reaction to her mother. She was just a small blond woman, 5'4 in height, with a round face and delicate features. How horrible could a conversation be? It was just a conversation.

She stopped in the middle of the road and seriously considered running back inside Peeta's house.

She took a calming breath stared down the front of her house and marched in with the determination only an Everdeen could conjure. Once in there she looked around the place hoping to get this over with, with each passing second her determination shriveled away a tiny bit revealing a young girl who somehow was still intimidated by her mother after years of independence. She had to give the woman some credit; she had whipped this mentality into her really well. The most offensive word she could even relate her mother to was a_bsent_.

Cautiously Katniss made her way into the family room, and as she expected, her mother was in a chair by the roaring fireplace knitting. Childish worry struck in Katniss' breast, was she in trouble?

She frowned at her own thoughts. Honestly, what was going on?

She approached her mother slowly, like an animal around its prey, her mother craned her neck to look at her and immediately she froze.

"Come here, Katniss." The small woman waved her over, Katniss hesitated before sitting at her feet.

"Mother." With a nod Katniss acknowledged her mother.

"Katniss, you had me worried today. Where did you go?" Katniss recognized that tone and expression. Her mother spoke as she knitted, pretending that the conversation wasn't of the high magnitude she held it as. Gulping, Katniss attempted to word her answer properly but who was she kidding, she had no idea which words were right and which ones were wrong.

"I spent the night at Peeta's." to her surprise her mother's face brightened, as if her words reminded her of something else.

"Leave a note next time." Euthalia Everdeen set down her knitting and rummaged inside the yarn basket. She produced a crisp white envelope of stiff paper. The Capitol's seal shone proudly across it and Katniss' heart hammered. This was it, this was the end. Whatever was in that envelope could only be bad news "This came in the mail. It got me… worried."

Katniss expression evolved and she almost smiled. She could not explain the warmth that radiated through her chest at her mother's words. For years she had buried her childish desires but they were still there, they would never leave. She would always have the need for her mother, the desire to be cared for, to be loved. At that moment she reacted like that terrified eleven year old child whose ultimate wish was to be hugged by her mother while she crooned that everything would be alright.

Quickly she composed herself and concentrated on the envelope "What does it say?"

Euthalia frowned and smoothed her daughter's hair. She sighed and handed her the letter "I couldn't bring myself to open it… I… well I know you would only hate me so much more."

Katniss was far from trusting her mother again, far from believing she was cured but she was not emotionless, she only knew how to hide her emotions well. Under the mask of her serious expression Katniss' heart broke at her mother's words. She did not hate her mother, she loved her still, and she always would. She just needed to protect beforehand, she wasn't going to commit a mistake that would end up harming her and Prim emotionally.

Without a word she took the envelope and tore it open, the sound of the paper and the burning wood in the fireplace filled the room. She glanced at her mother with fear in her eyes before returning her words to the crisp and perfect handwritten note she held. Her mother ran her fingers through her hair soothingly.

_"Beautiful work Miss Everdeen. Expect cameras in three days' time, our Victory Tour starts early. Be prepared to leave just after the holidays._

_Let the Games begin_

_From the desk of President Cornelius Snow"_

Katniss shivered. Three days, they had three days left to live freely. Three days before the line between reality and theatrics blended together, three days until her friendship with Peeta would surely get complicated, three days of sanity left. Quickly Katniss stood to hug her mother which left her blinking away, stunned. She ran up the stairs and dressed herself, stuffed some of Prims leather shoes into a bag and ran out the door. She needed to speak to someone.

* * *

_**Thanks for reading remember to review.**_

_**Cassandraishere.**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**in the arms of the angel**_

_** fly away from here**_

_** from this dark cold hotel room**_

_** and the endlessness that you fear**_

_** you are pulled from the wreckage **_

_**of your silent reverie**_

_** you're in the arms of the angel**_

_** may you find some comfort here**_

_** Angel**_

_**- Sarah Mclachlan**_

* * *

_**SFCBruce: Well now I feel better, I thought I was the only one with her head in the clouds! I'm glad you're enjoying this story.**_

_**Winter**_

_**By: Cassandraishere**_

_**I don't own the Hunger Games, if I did Everlack fans would be a much more satisfied bunch.**_

* * *

During her time in the Seam Katniss had only spoken to a handful of people. She was known to hunt outside the fence and to trade her game, people knew _of_ her, Katniss simply had never been sociable in her entire life, the fact that she and Gale had managed to form a friendship was a miracle.

She hurried across the Seam, looking for familiar faces, irritated that most of them weren't. She would find Peeta after she ran this little errand, subconsciously she knew she was being a bit stupid, maybe even paranoid but she was from the Seam, she believed in their traditions.

When there is trouble most Seam women do one of two things, they either look for their local 'seer' a woman hidden within the Hob who claims to read tea leaves and chicken legs, or they visit their priest, a man who practices illegal religious traditions after midnight within his quiet house. Since it wasn't midnight and Katniss didn't know how to contact the priest, she settled for their seer.

To see the seer one had to find her, which wasn't an easy task, the woman was the queen of seclusion. The hob wasn't that grand and somehow the seer remained out of sight.

Katniss attempted to look for anyone she knew that would know of the seer's whereabouts. The streets were mostly empty; the mines were currently filled with the lot of the population. Reluctantly Katniss made her way to the Hob, set on scavenging for the seer herself. Maybe she had a talisman of sorts, something that Katniss could use to build the illusion of safety, anything to make her feel useful.

The sight before her was so unexpected she almost fell onto the road in uttermost shock.

The Hob was consumed by an inferno; the flames melted the snow near it an`d swallowed the shabby building whole. The Hob was collapsing like a house of cards under its unforgiving heat. Men ran about tossing snow at the flames to douse it, others ran within the building to save whoever they could, yet the strangled screams of those being roasted alive pierced the winter's air no matter their efforts, never had the Seam seen such tragedy.

This was their livelihood; this building was the difference between life and death for so many. Without the Hob there was no Seam, there couldn't be, they couldn't survive without it. This was the end of many more lives than those captured by the merciless fire; this was the end of all men and women with olive skin and grey eyes. The end of a race was before them.

And Katniss knew that this punishment that the people of the Seam were receiving was being served by President Cornelius Snow himself. This was her punishment and warning. This was for the berries; this was so she wouldn't commit another mistake.

If Katniss thought her world had been tarnished, she was shocked to see there was more of her punishment to come.

Peeta was among the rank of men attempting to smother the flames; he worked hard hauling snow and dirt at the structure. He was quick and efficient, able bodied form years of hauling full sacks of flour over his head. Then a high-pitched scream cut through the eerie silence that had filled the area and Peeta dropped whatever was in his hands and stood straight, his eyes wide. Without second thought he took off running, straight into the flaming building.

"Peeta!" Katniss cried with her heart hammering in her throat, her tears falling frozen from her cheeks. Never in her life had she seen such a horrendous sight. Not even when the mutts were eating Cato alive, or the many times she'd watched children butcher each other on screen as was mandated. This was the ugliest thing she'd ever witnessed. Sweet Peeta Mellark, running into a building that was on the verge of collapse to save the life of a stranger.

One minute slowly crawled by and evolved into two. Katniss was sprawled on the snowy road, paralyzed by fear. She had collapsed onto the snow the moment Peeta entered that building, her legs no longer able to sustain her for her entire frame was shaking. Two minutes passed and he didn't run out of the flames, three minutes, four; nothing, no sign of his blond head, no sign of her beacon of hope, no dandelion, no Peeta.

As Katniss began to lose her mind five minutes crawled by mockingly. They had done it. The Capitol had succeeded, they had taken everything now. She had nothing left. Sure, she had Prim, her angel, her light, her heart. But she didn't have Peeta, and he was everything. She breathed for him, she kept on going for him, she could live in this world of smoke and mirrors as long as she had him, and he kept her from madness. A strangled cry ravaged her throat, sobs racked her body. There sprawled on the road Katniss cried alongside the other Seam women who'd recently suffered a loss. Together they beat the snow, yanked on their hair, and cried out for that person. The air filled with names.

"Pria!"

"Kenneth!"

"Barbara!"

"Samuel!"

"Alejandra!"

"Onech!"

"Yumay!"

"Peeta!"

Parts of the roof began to collapse and Katniss could no longer look, she buried her face in her polar hands and continued to shake. Whether it was caused by the snow or Peeta she didn't know. Katniss moaned and groaned as her heart twisted and squeezed, a gaping hole replacing what had once been her heart and lungs. She was empty now, lacking. The hole ached, the hole made her feel dead.

Suddenly there was warmth.

Her nose filled with the smell or burning wood and her face rubbed against something soft. She could no longer feel the snow seeping into her clothes for she was now airborne. Had she gone mad? Was this what her mother felt all the time? Like she was floating in a world of ashes, was that what despair was like? Was this the end?

And then there were words.

"Katniss, it's okay. I'm okay, you're okay we'll all be okay." Strong arms were the reason of her weightless floating. He carried her. _Safe. Safe. Safe. _Her mind screamed as she clung to him desperately. He was here, he was _okay!_

"Peeta!" she lifted her head with her cry of victory to look at him. He was covered in soot and sweat and a little blood but he was here. Here with her. Solid and safe. Alive and breathing. Katniss needed nothing more from this life, only Peeta, all she ever wanted was Peeta.

He smiled down at her "Hello Katniss."

Her tears fell with more force and she began to hiccup "Don't ever do that do me again!" she buried her face into his neck; his pulse was there, strong and steady. His sweat coated her face but she couldn't care less, he was alive, he was alive, he was alive.

"I'm sorry." He whispered and brushed his lips against her head, Katniss choked on air happier than ever. It didn't matter whatever the President had in store, as long as Peeta was there, strong and steady, keeping the world secure.

* * *

"He'll be fine Katniss, don't worry." Her sister assured her for the hundredth time "It's just some minor burns, and a fractured ankle, nothing major."

Katniss trailed behind her sister like a lost puppy in their kitchen in the victor's village. Prim collected her supplies and stuffed them in the pocket of her apron, there were so many injured by the fire, Prim hadn't had time to even braid her hair; it flowed behind her like blond curly silk.

"Katniss, I'm okay, I swear." Peeta said as he lowered himself onto a stool in the kitchen, trying hard to hide any wincing from her. "Other people had the worse of it."

Katniss stomped her foot and marched over to him to clean the cut on his forehead like her sister instructed "Can't you be selfish just for one day? Tell me that you're in pain, that you need me to do something, I'll do anything, does this hurt? I coul-"

"Katniss." He cut her off "Shut up."

Katniss frowned but smiled at the same time as she placed a Band-Aid on the cut on his forehead. She fuzzed over him as if he were a newborn baby. '…Does your ankle hurt, Peeta? Do you want tea? I'm making tea. Do you need ointment? How about some water? You don't _have _to take the tea. Just… eat _something_, you're making me anxious. Do you need to elevate your foot? Don't scratch that you're making it worse...' Peeta let her talk knowing that this is what she needed, she needed to watch over him to be sure he was okay. He nodded to all her questions, had tea given to him, then suddenly taken away, only to get it back. He couldn't help but grin as he watched her, her instinct to nurse was so strong it was almost amusing.

"Katniss!" someone shouted from the front door and both Peeta and Katniss looked up in surprise. They knew that Haymitch wouldn't come, especially at this time of day, and everyone else that lived in the Everdeen household was busy. Whoever this man was, he was not part of their routine.

"Yes?" Katniss asked with a confused expression across her face as she walked over to the foyer cautiously.

Peeta heard Katniss gasp "Effie?"

"I'm sorry, I tried to stop her-" the male's voice continued before Effie's accent cut him off.

"Katniss, darling!" Peeta smiled at the expression Katniss threw at him over Effie's shoulder, it screamed 'help me.'

"That's alright, Thom." Katniss managed to smile over at the man once Effie released her "make sure to tell Gale we're all okay, I wouldn't want him having a fit over nothing."

"You got it." The front door opened and closed.

Effie descended on Peeta the moment she laid eyes on him; she kissed both his cheeks and flushed with concern at his state of mild injury. She kept on saying 'this just won't do.' And Peeta had the sudden urge to lie down.

"Oh Katniss, this must be your sister! I don't think we've been properly introduced, Effie Trinket." The capitol woman extended one perfectly manicured hand towards Prim, whom at the moment was packing up some gauze.

"I'm Prim." The younger girl smiled and shook her hand quickly, slightly startling Effie with her unrefined greeting as she ruffled her older sister's hair and wacked the back of Peeta's head playfully before leaping out the doorway in a hurry.

"She has work." Peeta explained once he noticed Effie staring after the youngest Everdeen with confusion.

"Effie, if you don't mind my asking, why are you here?" Peeta inquired and Katniss put a light hand on his shoulder.

"About that…" she rummaged in her pocket and produced an opened letter which she presented to him with a soft smile. "Mail."

As Peeta read the letter with a frown Effie smiled and clapped her hands "Yes, we need to prepare you two for filming. Prep teams will be arriving tomorrow, now we need to make sure District Twelve is camera ready."

Peeta dropped the letter on the kitchen island as if it disgusted him "So… you're going to bring the entire District to beauty base Zero?"

Effie nodded solemnly and Katniss snickered "Yes, I believe I must."

"We're so telling Haymitch about this at the absolute last minute." Katniss commented with a grin.

* * *

Effie's visit was not one to be jolly about. She spent the better part of one hour talking on a small communication devise she produced from her pocket, barking out orders in an oddly cheerful tone. She kept on telling Katniss to get rid of certain things in her house, and to move furniture around. Katniss didn't like that at all. To top off the frustration Katniss was feeling Peeta wouldn't let her help him. He hopped around her house on one foot instead of leaning on her like she suggested, he wouldn't let her add more ointment to the burns he'd received, claiming he was perfectly able to do so himself. He simply sat there with some paper and pencils that he'd fetched from the study and drew. He looked cozy by her fireplace, calm and relaxed. But Katniss couldn't shake off the worry, he did almost die.

"Katniss," He said without looking up from his drawing. She felt embarrassed to be caught staring "It's just a fractured ankle. I've _broken_ bones before, I wrestle. _And_ I did lose a whole leg you know, this is nothing."

Katniss felt a pang of guilt at that and chewed on her bottom lip. She sat beside him and tugged at the ends of her hair, a frown invading her features "Victory tour starts at the end of the month."

"It does." He said, sounding uninterested.

"We could do it you know." She turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow; she found his blue eyes studying her features with careful scrutiny "We could go away and never come back."

"They'd find us." He dismissed her offer with a light shake of his head.

"Peeta, you know what I'm talking about." She took the paper from him and set it on a nearby table "we wouldn't have to see anyone else die ever again."

"Katniss…" he looked doubtful "do you really think you could do that? There's Prim, your mother, Gale…"

"It was your idea, remember?" She smiled sadly "I just… I want to make sure we can get out of this, before things get really bad. I don't want anything bad to happen."

"Katniss, only bad things happen in this country and you know that." He said a little harsher than intended and sighed.

"Peeta, what do I have to live for?" she frowned as she attempted not to cry "Prim doesn't need me anymore, she'll be okay, with my victor's winnings and all. And even then she could make a living as an apothecary."

"No, no. You just can't do that." He sounded as if he was trying to convince himself.

"Maybe not right now." She compromised and reached over to smooth back his hair "But maybe… maybe we should just keep it in mind? It's fool proof."

Peeta smiled sadly "Maybe it won't come to it?"

She cupped his cheek "I hope so. It just that… sometimes it would be so much easier to just go to sleep."

He lay his hand over her own "And never awake again."

"Children!" Effie's voice rang through the empty house "There you are. Now, I need you two to help me out a bit. We're going to practice for your interviews."

Peeta raised an eyebrow and Katniss fell deeper onto the couch with a groan.

"How do we train for these interviews exactly?" he asked as he sat up a little straighter, pushing some of Katniss' long limbs out of the way in the process, it irked her to no end.

"Well, these interviews will be different than any that you have done before. Since the cameras will be here for such a long time. A complete month! We'll do something that in the Capitol we refer to as a reality show."

Effie and Peeta acted as if the cackle that Katniss let out wasn't distracting "Reality show?" he inquired further.

Effie's face lit up with the sound of those two words "Yes!" she squealed coming closer to him "Everyone in the Capitol wants one; you're the envy of the entire city! A reality show is a televised program, it entails that a camera follow you at all times of the day, filming your day to day activities and whatnot."

Katniss crawled over to Peeta so she could get a look at Effie's face "So our entire lives will be televised for a month?"

"Yes!" the moment Effie squealed that word Katniss collapsed on top of her friend. What fresh hell was this reality show business?

* * *

"No Katniss, you need to smile more." Effie ordered from her spot on the plush leather couch "try sounding more cheerful, you're happy to be filmed remember?"

Katniss groaned. This had to be their tenth attempt at getting Katniss 'reality show ready.' Katniss stood with her back to her fireplace, facing Effie and attempting to become the character Capitol viewers would enjoy watching. Peeta was sprawled out across her carpet; he'd been slipping in an out of consciousness for the better part of the half hour they had been doing this. He really sucked at protecting her from the natural disaster that was Effie Trinket.

"Kitten," he mumbled, not bothering to raise his face off the ground "Just think about the clothes the Capitolites wear, it'll bring a smile to your face, guaranteed."

She attempted that, she had to press her palm to her mouth to contain the laughter that Effie would surely dub _unladylike_. "Alright, I've got this."

"Okay, action!" Effie announced with a sharp clap of her hands.

As Katniss giggled at the image of over sized collars and colorful skin Effie asked her questions. She was asked her to describe her home, her family, and Peeta. She asked her trivial questions like what food she preferred, and how she liked her tea. All the while her eyes kept on flashing back at Peeta's tightly wrapped foot, wondering if she should replace the ice she had tucked in there. He was a little too drowsy to ask for help, not that he would anyways, even doped up on pain killers Peeta was selfless and it bothered her so.

When she finally thought the torture was over Effie switched tactics. The days of heels were apparently back, only in the disguise of boots this time. She had her walk about the room with a couple of books on her head barking out orders like a sergeant. Chin high! Shoulders back! Do not wobble! As if the juggling act on her head and the constant threat of falling provided by the shoes wasn't enough, every time Katniss would slouch Effie would press a ruler across the line of her back, forcing her shoulders back and chest out. Additionally, Peeta's commentary and barely disguised giggles really weren't helping.

By the end of it Katniss breathed a sigh of relief, kicked off the hellish boots and let the books fall from her head onto Peeta's chest since he was mid-laugh. The air was knocked out of him but that didn't stop him from smirking.

"Normally you're so graceful." He mussed as he watched her throw herself onto the floor beside him with a groan "but today you looked like a newborn deer or something. No coordination whatsoever."

She shoved him "How do you know what a newborn deer looks like, you've never left the District."

"I've been exploring the television lately, at night you know; they have a whole channel on animals." He yawned, still drowsy from the medication "this damn leg's bothering me." It sounded like an afterthought.

Katniss jumped up at high alert "What's wrong? Is it your ankle? More ice right? I _knew _you needed more ice! I'll go get it, stay here, and don't move. I'll take care of it, if only I knew where they keep the numbing agents, where is the ice-"

Peeta clamped a hand over her mouth and she jumped with surprise "My ankle is fine, it's the prosthetic." He wiggled his left leg "Do you think it's possible for me to outgrow it?"

Her bow knitted together, she spoke in a muffle courtesy of his hand "What? How?"

He sighed and rolled onto his back, releasing her mouth "I think I grew a few inches, it feels too short, and a little tight; irritates the stump more than usual."

"What do we do? No one in the District has one, and I doubt you could just order one."

He yawned "I don't know, Katniss. I'll probably ask Haymitch later."

She smiled as she watched him fight with his heavy eyelids "How about you go ahead and sleep in my room? I'll keep Effie entertained."

"Where'd she go?" he slurred, blinking hard.

"No idea, probably Capitolizing the house, come on I'll help you up the stairs."

Peeta grunted but didn't protest when Katniss wrapped her arm around his torso and tossed his arm over her shoulder to help him up the stairs. He struggled up the stairs, too drowsy to really be aware of what was happening and with both legs giving him difficult time, it broke Katniss' heart and she wished she could fix his foot and produce a new leg out of thin air for him but she couldn't. Instead she focused on what she could do.

She guided him to her bed where he instantly fell unconscious. She pulled off his shoes and tucked him in, making sure to keep his injured foot elevated. She took the ice out of his bandage so it wouldn't melt all over his clothes, and after a fair struggle managed to detach his prosthetic, she figured it couldn't be comfortable to sleep with that thing on. Once that was off she finally got her first glimpse of his stump, she'd never seen it before and was deeply saddened because of what she saw.

The leg was really giving him problems; his skin was red and welted. He really needed a new leg. She found some lotion and spread it across his stump in hopes of calming the injuries. With sleep eluding her Katniss marched downstairs, in search for Peeta's coat, she was mending those buttons.

The hours were flying by, slowly being pulled out of existence layer by layer, like the skin of an orange. Peeta continued to sleep peacefully, at one point rolling slightly to the side and snuggling his head right into her lap. His leg was still on the pile of pillows she'd made and he was mumbling softly in his sleep. She set aside the needle and thread and sat back, her fingers woven into his golden strands.

The prep team would be arriving in the morning to begin the long process of beautifying them for the cameras arrival the day after the next one. Katniss knew what that meant, they needed all that time to thoroughly pluck the hair off her, scrape the dirt from under her nails, and smooth her skin. She knew they weren't coming to work on Peeta, maybe after a light plucking of his eyebrows and a comb to somewhat calm his unruly hair he would be done. Katniss was the 'beauty emergency' out of the both of them.

She sighed and grimaced, she dreaded the hours spent being 'prepped'. She hated sitting for long periods of time, especially for such a superficial thing.

Peeta snored softly in his sleep; he kept on mumbling something that closely resembled the word "thingymabob," which made Katniss smile. She continued to run her fingers through his golden hair and hummed softly to herself. This she enjoyed, a moment of simple bliss, and as starved as she was for any form of joy Katniss chose to cherish it, every single second of that night she spent guarding Peeta she committed to memory; even the part where as she fell out of the world of reality Peeta pulled her down near him and snuggled close.

* * *

**Alright so Eve didn't make it into this chapter, so it'll have to be the next one! I provided you with a certain amount of events, and yes this chapter is shorter than the last one but well... 6000 + words a chapter is a LOT to deliver so I gave you 4101. **

**Anyways thanks for reading DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!**

**Cassandraishere**


	5. Chapter 5

_**But you don't love me the way that, I love you  
'cause if you did girl you would not, do those things you do  
You killed my heart just to see if, I will rise  
Above your anger and above your lies**_

_**The Kooks- You Don't Love Me**_

* * *

**_Winter_**

**_By: Cassandraishere_**

**_peetagrl3: As always, thank you for your support, you're like my cheerleader._**

**_TobiasEverdeenJackson22456: Brace yourself my friend. He he._**

**_*Side Note* I was brushing up on my Shakespeare the other day and really liked the whole describing the setting thing you see at the beginning of every scene, so I decided to do a little of that here, just to let you know. Also, I wanted to give more depth to the Effie character, I felt she was rather flat, hence the first 'scene'. Would anyone want to help me update the synopsis? I realized it doesn't do a very good job explaining the story, PM me if you wish to write it? I'd put your name there, I'm not very good at summarizing myself, that is literally why my friends do NOT under any circumstances ask me about a book, movie, or TV show he's interested in that I've already watched. According to them I'm a giant 'spoiler' whatever that means? By the way the hat Peeta's wearing that is 'a bit too long' it's basically a grey beanie, I hope that clarifies things. Eve is here! Yay! Don't hate me! I already wrote the first 'scene' of the next chapter if that makes anything better?_**

**_I don't own the Hunger Games, if I did I swear, I would satisfy the craving for Buttercup all of you have ;)_**

**_Let the conflict begin!_**

* * *

**Sometime In the Early Morning, Abernathy Residence, Day Before Filming Begins, Three Weeks until Victory Tour.**

Unlike common belief, being a drunk was actually a very satisfactory existence. It was easy and virtually painless to Haymitch's experience. Sure, there was the ever-present nausea, the skull cracking headaches between drinks. Yet he drank nonetheless, the numbness was a welcome friend that always had a place in his cold, poisoned heart.

What was it about the morning that bothered him so? Maybe it was because he was actually alive to see the birth of a new day, maybe it was the irritation he felt every time the sunlight managed to sneak into his house, or maybe it was the simple fact that he hated having to get off his butt. Either way Haymitch hated mornings, and this one was _definitively_ no exception.

He was staring at his ceiling as he nursed some white liquor he found tucked under a cushion in his couch. He enjoyed drinking like this, tucked away in silence, staring at nothing in particular, thinking of nothing in particular. It was soothing. He should have learned from the life he has lead so far, nothing soothing, gentle, kind, or in any form of _nice_ lasts forever.

His door was suddenly opened with a loud _thump _that made him wince. He prepared himself, knife in hand and a string of insults on the tip of his tongue. The Mellark boy he could handle, in some twisted way he understood his boundaries and needs, and he would never open his door so loudly. He liked that kid. But no, this couldn't be Mellark bringing him something solid to digest; this had to be that Everdeen brat. Sure, he liked her sometimes, but when he was as intoxicated as he was at the moment he had no patience for anyone, and to get along with Katniss Everdeen you needed valleys of patience.

He was opening his mouth, quite proud of the irritating comment he was about to hurl her way when he choked on his own breath, surprised that he was being visited by someone he hadn't expected to see within the walls of his house in a million years.

"Well, well, well." He smirked as he let his eyes rake up and down his visitor "If it isn't the _infamous_ Effie Trinket. What compels you to honor my household with your _divine_ presence?"

Effie lifted her chin and made a little dignified sound that made him smile. It took so little to make her uncomfortable and quite frankly, pissed. If there was anything Haymitch liked more than rum it was getting to watch someone squirm.

"I… Well I need to make sure you prepare yourself. Today is a big day, I need you washed dressed and less… how do I put this? Less _you._"

"Flattering." He said flatly, his face turning blank "Why? I thought we weren't seeing each other again until we need to parade the kids around? I'm guessing I haven't been informed of something…?"

Effie sighed "Television crew will be here tomorrow, President ordered a new show featuring Katniss and Peeta. He wants it to be a reality show with a sitcom component."

Haymitch guffawed "He wants the girl to be funny? Good luck with that." He struggled into a sitting position, pushing past the dizziness and nausea "What do you need, Effie?"

He watched Effie deflate slightly as she maneuvered her way to sit beside him. She did so gingerly, slightly disgusted by the state of his home, he ignored it, he didn't really care. He knew he didn't need to be specific with what he had asked of Effie years of coexisting with a person does that to you.

Effie tugged off her white satin gloves and played with them nervously "I'm worried… something is not right."

"The President's orders got your panties in a bunch?" he lifted an eyebrow and shook his head "What did you expect with the stunt those kids pulled?"

She seemed to freeze in thought for a moment, carefully selecting what words she was going to say next. With Haymitch less was always more. "Don't you feel it? Something is generally _off_ about this entire arrangement."

"The man probably has a plan." He said without much interest as he picked up the white liquor again "He's looking for a way to make profit with his new bright stars."

"No." Effie's small hands were suddenly locked around his wrists like a vice, he turned to look into her eyes –which were now covered with violet contacts- and lifted a questioning brow, Effie's stare looked slightly paranoid as she tried to make him understand "Something different is happening, something drastic, something bad, something with the air of _revolution_."

"Effie I-" he began only to have one of Effie's cool hands press against his mouth to quiet him.

"_Listen_ to me." She insisted "Haymitch, I can't protect those kids, I'm too far, too useless. But you… you're _smart_ and generally clever. And I know you care about their safety as much as I do, don't try and deny it, I was sitting beside you during the entirety of the 74th Hunger Games. I've never had any children, hell; I can't stand kids, but call it a mother's instinct. Haymitch he's going to do something _bad_ to them. I know, it doesn't sound right, my entire life I've believed this government was right and just but lately… I've had doubts. Something's _off_, and you've _got_ to believe me."

Effie was breathing heavily by the end of her little speech and Haymitch was visibly rattled, not having expected that from simple minded Effie. Apparently she wasn't as simple minded as he thought. After a long expanse of silence he nodded, and Effie dropped her hands, looking as if she felt a thousand times better.

**_"Will do Trinket, will do."_**

* * *

**The Victors Village Grand Entryway, First Day of filming For 'Katniss and Peeta in Real Life', Three weeks before Victory Tour**

The cold was merciless that day, as if it knew the bitter darkness the day represented. Katniss' fingers were growing numb and Peeta was continuously shifting from one foot to the other and pacing up and down the snow filled square. They were standing before the grand marble fountain that gleamed from within the graceful wrought-iron fence that encircled the Victors Village. The fountain sported three celestial beings; their wings extended heavenwards, faces upwards, prepared for flight. The statues brought a stinging to Katniss' heart, they reminded her of Rue.

As far as Katniss perceived, Peeta had been wound tight all morning. He paced every single inch of available space, mumbled under his breath, and glared at empty space. She'd kept her fingers occupied as she watched him struggle like a caged animal; she ripped every single sheet of paper she could find. She shredded until the paper could not be shred further.

If they kept this up they would ruin the whole show.

The Camera crews were busy setting up, microphones were clipped to them and placed in strategic locations, cameras were pointing in every direction, and powerful lamps lit the entire location. It was a mind-numbing experience to her as she stood blinking under the harsh light, nonreactive to the quick adjustments that were being made to her makeup and clothing. This was the calm before the storm, the moment when she heard no sounds, felt no touch, and comprehended nothing.

Her prep team had worked hard the previous morning and evening. After cooing over finding Katniss and Peeta sprawled out on her bed having a subconscious tug of war over the sheets, they sprang into action. They had doused her in different smelling goo's that burned, chilled, smoothed, and cleared her skin. Every nail was filled and painted, every single hair smoothed and uniform, not a single eyelash was clumped or uncurled.

Suddenly Peeta came to a halt at her side in an odd and stiff looking stance. His brow was knotted together as he glared at his boots and cracked his knuckles. He was usually the confident one of their duo and this was highly alarming behavior. She looked about, the cameras were yet to be ready, Haymitch was off to the side discussing something with her mother and Effie, and Prim was holding Gale's hand near the fountain and talking animatedly. She took this all as a sign that they had time available and turned to face her nervous friend.

"It won't be that bad," she began doubtfully "just be cheerful, be yourself, act as if you're dealing with a particularly difficult customer at the bakery."

Peeta didn't lift his head but his eyes shifted towards her, she could barely see them as they were shielded by his blond hair which was tucked under a knit grey hat that was a bit too long, but apparently the current fashion. His shoulders relaxed slightly with the sound of her voice, yet his back was still tense, his hands clenched into fists.

He kicked at some left over snow on the cobble stoned path- the Capitols crew had shoveled the snow away hours earlier- his foot was in a brace and it seemed to bother him a bit. Effie had given him some fast acting medicine that should help mend the bone quicker, hopefully within the span of four or five days. As of his prosthetic, they were still waiting for the new one to arrive with the train along with a trained Capitol physician. Apparently the new one wouldn't be removable.

Peeta didn't like that.

A part of him told him he should be grateful. He was receiving a limb, an artificial one, but a limb nevertheless. He shouldn't feel so unhappy with himself when taking advantage of what the Capitol could provide for him. It shouldn't make him feel dirty, or in any form less human. He kept on reminding himself that it was supposed to be okay. He shouldn't feel like he was failing his District, he had been through hell, played poker with the devil himself, and somehow survived. The least those self-absorbed pricks could do was give him a leg, right?

He kicked the ground harder, earning him a sharp pain, and ground his teeth together. Just when he could taste the bitter flavor of blood he felt tiny arms wrap around his torso. He looked down in surprise; he had left for that dark place he visited so frequently when remembering anything related to the games, the world normally faded away when that occurred.

Katniss was arranging his left arm so that it draped around her. She squeezed his middle and tucked herself against him snugly. He was royally confused for a second until he was blinded by the flash of a camera.

"Peeta, will you concentrate please? Think afternoon stroll, you love your girlfriend, yadda, yadda, yadda." The man behind the black camera instructed with a dismissive wave of his hand. Peeta shook his head to clear it and focused on his face. Smile, look happy. Think of something funny, remember something good… Think of your friends, funny pranks, Delly, Dad, your brothers, something _happy_.

"Good, good. Now how about you gaze into each other's eyes? That would make for a great poster." The man said as he adjusted his camera.

Katniss and Peeta shifted slightly to gaze at each other. Katniss winked and went slightly cross-eyed in a meager attempt to cheer him up despite their annoying circumstances. Peeta smirked and let himself go to his happy place, it had been the same for as long as he could remember.

_Katniss._

Katniss sitting near the swing set when they were children playing with a stick and pebbles; Katniss making a face in class since she disagreed with the teacher's interpretation of the Capitol. Katniss' face peeking through the small window of the gymnasium during a wrestling tournament probably wondering what the heck was happening; the slight look of surprise she had when he found her staring at him. Katniss smiling down at a dandelion the day after the bread, Katniss laughing at something Gale said. Katniss walking home with Prim, Katniss and Prim at the bakery window. Katniss staring at him through the bakery window when she thought he wasn't looking, Katniss laughing the other day when they played chess, Katniss asleep, Katniss rolling her eyes, Katniss pouting. Just Katniss.

"Alright that's enough pictures! Now to the actual filming." Someone shouted and Katniss' smile relaxed 'are you ok?' she mouthed with a slight frown. He gave her a choppy nod and she smiled making his heart stutter. He needed a break. He relaxed his hold on her and glared at his feet, chanting the new mantra he had developed over the course of their short friendship.

_Stop it. She doesn't love you. She isn't attracted to you. Get over it. Get over it. Get over it._

Why couldn't he just listen to himself?

_That's why. _He thought the moment Katniss' hand came in contact with his cheek; she guided his face towards hers to get a good look at him. She looked concerned.

"Peeta?" her frowned deepened once she saw the look in his eyes, "what is it?"

He shook his entire frame, like a dog shrugging off water, and backed away from her touch "I'm fine."

She didn't seem convinced and opened her mouth to probably protest further but was cut off by a member of the camera crew. It was time to film the title sequence of their show.

* * *

**Midday, Peeta Mellark's front porch, Three Weeks until Victory Tour**

"Is there a chance you will be painting today?" Katniss asked quietly, her polite tone almost sounding natural at this point of the day. She swung their joined hands between them and gave him a soft smile that to anyone else seemed simply cute; to him it said 'it's your cue.'

Peeta sighed and looked over the horizon; the camera crew was attempting to 'blend in to their surroundings' so that they could get an authentic conversation from between the two of them. They had been unsuccessful thus far since Peeta had been whacked in the head several times by the 'shotgun mic' as the crew referred to it. He could see them clearly despite their best efforts, he could also hear them discussing how they were going to edit the footage.

"Maybe, I'm not sure. Are you offering to pose for me?"

Katniss let out some loud laughter that he could tell was authentic, he smiled.

"Um, no thanks. It's not like you're not going to draw me anyways, you creep." She shoved his shoulder and shook her head.

He shrugged "You deny it, but you love it."

She rolled her eyes and glanced over her shoulder; behind her he could see Haymitch making wild hand gestures. He frowned, the older man's meaning flying over his head until Katniss made eye contact with him again and very inconspicuously puckered her lips.

_Right _he thought with disappointment _we're 'in love.'_

With a sigh he tugged her towards him, lazily, reluctantly. He had nothing against kissing Katniss; he simply wished he could do so without an audience, and with her actually wanting to. _Alright _he thought when their lips made contact _go through the motions, don't bump your noses, close your eyes, and try not to frown. _

Despite the fact that the kiss was tense and probably highly unpleasant for both parties, Peeta still thought her lips were smooth and perfect. They were this wonderful thing that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand tall like stiff soldiers.

They parted afterwards. Katniss smiled and hugged him before skipping off to her house in a very un-Katniss-like manner. He tried not to roll his eyes at her overacting before stepping into his house; he had never been so relieved for something to be over in his lifetime.

"Alright! I think that's enough for the first episode!" someone shouted from outside his door. Peeta breathed deeply before exiting his house again. Katniss was already back on his porch, seated at the stone steps. He dropped beside her like a heap of potatoes and listened carefully. He wanted to be prepared for whatever was coming next.

The camera crew was standing on the street near his home organizing their equipment. It was quite the sight, he had no idea it took that much equipment to film a pair of teenagers.

"Since the show was started on such short notice we didn't have enough time to prepare," a man with blue-violet hair began "But starting tomorrow, after the trains arrival, a series of small cameras will be set up around your homes, the camera crew will still be here for specific occasions. If you were to go into town and such; otherwise we'll have filming hours during the day when the cameras in your home will be recording."

_Great, privacy? Gone! _Peeta thought bitterly.

Katniss sighed and slumped forwards a little, the image of defeat. It wasn't something you wanted to see from Katniss, she had always been so brave and proud. Nothing, no matter the odds, could get Katniss Everdeen to feel defeat. But the Capitols audience was a whole different story, it was too much. They wanted too much. Both of them would give them a little piece of their soul, their identity every time they had to in order to maintain everyone they loved safe, and yet that wasn't enough. It would never be enough.

The Capitol was like some sort of monster with an empty stomach. Its hunger was never ending and it had an appetite for the frail and defenseless. It played with its food, like a cruel feline. It gave its prey hope to escape before cruelly shutting off any supply of light or life. It was sick. Cruel. Low. Inhumane.

It made Peeta feel so helpless. He thought he had experienced all that there was to feel when it came to hopelessness. He was a helpless case when it came to his mother, Katniss, and the Hunger Games. He was prepared to fail at all those things. He had finally accepted that. But this, this was different. It stripped him of those basic instincts in a man. He couldn't protect or defend. He wasn't strong enough or smart enough to defend anyone against their President, he could find no angle in which he could bluff his way out of this struggle. Once, long ago, his grandmother had told him that a man's basic purpose was to provide and protect. If that was true he was not a real man then.

He despised this caged feeling.

The filming crew left immediately after giving their instructions. He had no idea where they were staying at and quite frankly he couldn't care less. If he never saw those people again it would be too soon.

Once they were officially alone Katniss sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. He slung his arm over her frail ones and stared at the sheets of white that covered the land and muted everything. Not a bird was in sight, not even a brave squirrel, it was just the two of them in this frosted world.

"Are you alright?" he asked her quietly, still not looking her way in fear of losing his cool to her mercury eyes.

Katniss reached for his gloved hands and played with the fur lining "I've been better. You?"

"I could use a permanent separation from the Capitol, yeah." He snickered "But then again don't we all?"

At that they both laughed lightly, relaxing slightly. Katniss didn't understand it, but there was something that happened when they were in each other's company, something that made the world less bitter. She didn't' question it, she was glad for its existence. It made things alright when nothing was.

"Peeta?"

"Yes?" he sounded distracted, like someone who had just been pulled away from an avid discussion.

"Can we go inside? I can't feel my fingers."

He chuckled and pulled them both to their feet "Of course. You know that's what happens when you refuse to wear gloves."

She stopped by his open doorway to give him a look "But they were pink! _Pink! _With tiny bells! What am I cattle?"

The house filled with laughter.

* * *

**Peeta Mellarks Kitchen**

Katniss' laughter was like a rare jewel. It was tough to obtain and a precious thing to contemplate and revel in. At that very moment Peeta was a very wealthy man, for the girls laughter was bouncing off his walls freely. He had never seen Katniss laugh this much before, he wasn't even sure if she had ever laughed that much before in her lifetime. It was very refreshing and it seemed to be peeling away the discomfort that both of them had been wrapped about in for the entirety of the day.

Currently Katniss was seated at the counter beside him. They both kicked the cabinet doors bellow them and drank warm tea. The tips of their fingers were still chilled despite the warm liquid and the roaring fire in the other room providing enough warmth to wrap around them comfortably. December truly was an odd month for District Twelve since they did have some pretty intense heat waves in the summer.

"Are you worried?" Katniss suddenly broke the gentle silence between them with her almost shy question. She kept her eyes averted opting to study the leaves at the bottom of her amber colored cup.

He tilted his head as he considered this, despite its simplicity that really was a loaded question. There were lots to be worried _about _he worried for his family and friends. But was he personally worried about what was to happen to him? The answer was simple. No. There was really nothing they could do to him that he would give much of a reaction to. If all the Capitol wanted out of him was a circus then he shall produce a circus.

"No." he shrugged and turned to meet her incredulous expression, "If it's me that they want, no I'm not worried. I'll always fear the possibility of Rye and Barley getting reaped, but in a few years I won't have to anymore." He shrugged again.

Katniss sputtered for a minute, searching for the right way to respond to such an answer. How could he say such a thing with that calm of an expression? There was much to be worried about! What if something went _wrong_? How did they publicly put an end to the Star Crossed Lovers charade? Would they ever? How long must they be Star Crossed? How would they deal with the 'possible' rebellion she had been warned about?

Then she remembered. 'It was all for the Games, how you acted'. She remembered his hollow voice before their arrival to Twelve 'One more time? For the audience?' Peeta never pretended, he didn't have to, everything he did was _real_.

Then a horrible thought entered her mind.

What if Peeta loved her _still_?

She jumped off the counter with a haunted expression that grasped Peeta's attention in a nanosecond.

"Katn-" he began but she frantically interrupted him.

"No, no, don't talk to me." She dropped her cup in his sink with shaky fingers "Oh _God._ Stupid, stupid, stupid! How could I _forget_? How could _I_? How could _you_?" she gripped the sink with her left hand and turned to stare Peeta down with an accusational finger.

"Wha-"

"How are you _not_ worried? Peeta, don't you remember what I said? The berries! Too rebellious! Bad things happen when people are 'rebellious'. Do you know nothing?"

He jumped off the counter and returned her glare this time "Yes, I remember Katniss. And yes, that's something to worry about. But we're doing what they want, what do you want from me?"

Her hands twitched as if they wanted to gesture in a way that would bring him understanding. Couldn't he see? Couldn't he see the magnitude of the situation? They could all die. Every single last one of them could die because of a stupid act of desperation, and he _wasn't_ worried? And to add on to the horror of this entire situation he s_till _loved her? What was happening in his head?

"Listen to yourself! Maybe it's true what they say about blondes, you're all stupid!" she began to poke the middle of his chest with her finger to accentuate the point she was trying to make "We could die! Rebellion leads to death, do you not see that? There's nothing we can do about it but become the Capitol's little pets and God knows what that entails. This will never end, we will never be safe. Everything we do and say will be studied, checked for faults. If we slip once we lose!"

He shoved his fingers across his hair "I know! You hear me? I know, I understand, I get it. But we'll be fine, we can do this, the Capitols people have short attention spans, they'll get tired of us. In the mean time we do what we've been doing, we're two teenagers who couldn't live without each other, that's why we did what we did. They're eating it up, we're _fine!_"

A part of her knew that what he was saying made sense, but rational-Katniss wasn't in charge of her mouth at the moment. Impulsive-Katniss had free reign right now.

"No we won't be fine! Maybe we'll convince them, _maybe _they'll let us live, but even then we won't be fine." She balled her hands into fist and pressed them to her eyes while turning to walk away from him.

Peeta extended his arms in a frustrated gesture "What is that supposed to mean?"

"You _know. _Peeta, they'll want something from us, every day, every New Year. It'll get to a point…"

"What point?" he crossed his arms and frowned, actually lost.

Katniss turned slightly and dropped her arms. She felt defeated "To a point where they want _everything. _They'll want a Katniss Mellark, and tiny little kids with our faces, and then they'll want to see if those kids have our fight and determination. And how will they see that? Well, they'll want to see them fight in the Games of course! Peeta, I can't do any of that…"

"We won't."

"You don't know that!" she screamed and wiped her eyes. Was she _crying_ right now? Since when was she an angry crier? "You don't know anything! Don't be stupid, that's _exactly_ what's going to happen. I can't do that, I swore I wasn't going to have children. And I sure won't have them because some shallow pricks demanded them."

He walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders, she flinched but they ignored that, both knew what he had to say was important "Then none of that will happen. We'll lie for as long as we can. Aren't some women barren? Isn't there a way to do that on purpose?"

She looked up and let go of any inhibitions about crying "What about you? Don't you want kids?"

He gave her a disbelieving expression "Why the hell would I want kids?"

She scrunched up her mouth and dropped her gaze to her shoes "You're just really good with them."

"Katniss, I've been through the same experiences as you. I'm about as interested on procreating kids doomed to a horrible death as you are." He smiled a little "I may be blond, but I'm not that stupid."

She blushed "About that, I-"

"Your apology is accepted." He smiled wide and their gazes met, she was so close to smiling herself when a dark cloud fell over her features. She backed away and Peeta dropped his arms to his side with confusion written all over him. Her hands shook again as she stared at him. Why did things have to be so complicated?

"Peeta, they'll want Katniss Mellark." She crossed her arms to hide the shaking "Doesn't that bother you?"

"It's not like there's anything we can do about it," he reasoned "it just goes hand in hand with the Star Crossed Lovers image."

"I'll just make you miserable." She was crying, _again_ "you'll hate me later instead of sooner. They'll be a girl out there that you'll want, but you won't be able to have her because of _me_. Even if you hid it well from the media, I'd still be what was keeping you away from what could be."

He smiled and attempted to comfort her with a hand on her right arm, she flinched away from him "Katniss, we'll be fine, just trust me."

"No!" anger cursed through her, why couldn't he see that his happiness was on the line here? "Do you not care? I'll just be in your way! I'll ruin your like, I-"

"Katniss, I'll be fine." he smiled once more which only angered her further.

"You won't be." She shook her head "Peeta, you love me. And I never will. Do you understand that? I never will! I can't! I just can't."

That one hit home for his face turned blank, his voice hollow once again "Do you think I don't know that?"

He had slammed the front door behind him before she had a chance to utter an apology.

* * *

**The Streets of District Twelve, Town Square, Midnight**

The crime rate of District Twelve was something that was truly up to debate. What was considered crime and what were really acts of desperation? Justified action? The true answers to these questions could only be provided by an honest member of the community, not a peacekeeper, nor one of the capitols inhabitants. No, only someone who walked on the coal-crusted soil, and breathed the cold air of the District really knew those answers.

And Peeta knew them as well as anybody.

Yes, crime in the District was common, how could it not be? If one was clever enough there was the possibility of running off with just that much food for your family, just that much more life granted to you. What a miracle!

Yet, not all crime in the District was committed with good intensions.

There's something about oppression that makes a human being want to abuse another. It's a cycle of the most ancient instincts. Cope with abuse by abusing another, simple, raw, cold. Human as anything on this planet. Peeta knew this, his mother knew this, and the entire District knew this.

Maybe that's why scenes like the one before him weren't shocking any longer.

But he was getting ahead of himself. Crime was part of District Twelve. Crime was something everyone committed or became a victim of. You weren't a true member of the District if you hadn't been involved in one way or another.

When Peeta was seven he was robbed, it'd happened, of course it would. It was rather easy really, Peeta was making deliveries alone, and he was a small boy with a large bag of lifesaving bread. Easy target, they didn't even have to intimidate him, Peeta knew how things worked. The only thing the Seam boy said to him was "bag." And then it was over.

Peeta himself had stolen more than once, from his own father, not that he believed it counted. A cupcake here or there wasn't much but it was all Peeta could find himself even desiring. It wasn't as if he couldn't make another batch, it wasn't as if they were going to sell much of the stuff anyways. Who had money to waste on something as luxurious as a cupcake?

But back to the point, robbery was common. Whether reported or not it happened, often.

But Peeta was looking at violated the unwritten rules that the District had about crime.

"Hey!" he shouted with much more authority than he thought he could produce "let the girl be."

The girl in question couldn't be any older than he, she had caramel hair that flowed down her back in thick waves, pale skin that he was sure must be lovely porcelain when she wasn't terrified as she was at the moment, and full pink lips. Said lips parted in surprise when she heard him defend her, her wide blue eyes near popping out of her skull. She was being cornered by a group of men, all sneering and horrendous, their intensions clearly non-pure.

Peeta being the victor that he was wasn't someone anyone in the District ever wanted to fight with. Sure, he was missing a leg and may have come across as a little soft on screen when it came to Katniss but that didn't change anything. Peeta was a star wrestler, Peeta got an eight while in the Hunger Games, Peeta had been trained to kill and he knew he could do so without flinching if he felt it necessary, he could regret it later, but he wouldn't back down in a fight.

The men dispersed immediately, without even considering picking a fight with him.

The girl who was now shaking fell to her knees on the cold stone path of the town street they were on. She was collecting a large amount of oranges into a canvas bag which she had dropped while confronting the men. Peeta dropped to his knees as well to aid her.

She stiffened as he offered her an orange and crawled away from him. She stared at him with clear mistrust.

"Why are you helping me?" she said firmly with much more strength than Peeta believed she should have at the moment. But one glance at her icy eyes revealed it all. The bravery, the pride, the strength inside the young woman before him and he admired that in her.

"Why shouldn't I?" he replied just as sharply as her gently offered her oranges, as if she were a wounded animal. She considered him, unbothered by his tone, if anything assured by it, and nodded ever so slightly. It was almost too small to notice, but ever so gently she smiled her gratitude and ducked her head.

"Thank you, for saving me." She murmured, and her shyness was endearing to him. Cautiously she pulled her canvas bag on and stood on shaky legs. Immediately Peeta put his hands in front of him attempting to aid her if she were to fall, her smile was wider this time as she shook her head.

"That's not necessary but thank you." She blushed softly and he couldn't believe his own thoughts, he hadn't thought this way about anyone other than Katniss, ever. He'd never noticed the small things in other girls, but here he was, fascinated by her eyelashes and her creamy skin, her doe eyes.

Suddenly the next question became urgent, he simply needed to know this "What's your name?"

She laughed softly at his eagerness immediately he added in embarrassment "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"No that's alright. I… well, no one has ever been that interested in my name." she hugged herself and cocked her head, her caramel hair moving beautifully and catching the sunlight in every perfect way "My name is Eve."

He smiled and couldn't recognise himself as the next thought entered his mind. Never in a million years did he believe he would think such a thought, his eyes only ever saw Katniss, she was the sun, the stars, the moon she was everything. But Katniss wasn't his, he knew that. He was still blinded by Katniss' radiance, but then there was Eve… Maybe all those lectures his father had given him over Katniss had a point; you had to open your eyes to appreciate new things.

The thought that surprised him so was simple, innocent. Eve, this girl with hair of caramel and eyes like the morning sky, Eve was beautiful.

* * *

**Thanks for reading and don't forget to review!**

**I'm sorry if there are any typos.**

**Cassandraishere.**


	6. Chapter 6

**_Only you can bring me back to life_**  
**_Only you can pull me into right_**  
**_Tell me when I can breathe again_**

**_Say you love me true_**  
**_Say you love me true_**  
**_Say you love me true_**  
**_Say you love me true_**  
**_Say you love me true_**  
**_Say you love me true_**  
**_Say you love me true_**  
**_True_**

**_Only you can bring me back to life_**  
**_Only you can pull me into right_**  
**_Tell me when I can breathe again_**

**_I will arise_**

**_ -The Pretty Reckless (One of my favorite bands) Only You._**

* * *

**Winter**

**By Cassandraishere**

**I don't own the Hunger Games, sadly.**

* * *

**Authors Note:**

**Don't worry my readers! I got lots of sad reviews about Eve being part of the story now, so I decided to say something about that. In all stories there is conflict. If you've noticed, in every romantic YA novel the couple breaks up. It just happens. How many of you are in long term relationships? Are you telling me not a single on of you has ever fought with your significant other? Fighting is natural, the couple who doesn't fight has a problem, just trust me on that. Also most couples under go some sort of separation, it teaches both of them what the world is like without the other.**

**Also, did you know that Eve is fashioned after a teenage version of my mother? My mom's personality is much like Eve's, her hair was like that as a teen, and much of the things that make Eve who she is are things my mom has described feeling or experiencing as a teenager.**

**So don't fret!**

**Or should you fret? ;)**

* * *

**Everdeen Household, Early in the Morning, Day Two of Filming for 'Katniss and Peeta in Real Life', Three weeks until Victory Tour**

"He's late." Effie huffed as she walked up and down Katniss' living room "Peeta is never late."

Katniss fiddled with the end of her skirt and avoided Haymitch's judgmental stare, she knew this was her fault and she didn't need him to remind her. What was wrong with her? She couldn't just fight with Peeta when everything in their world was so unstable. Peeta was so kind, understanding and wonderful to talk to. Why couldn't she just be kind to him as well?

Then her front door opened.

She jumped from her seat and caught a glance of Haymitch's glare before turning away. His stare cut her like any knife. In the foyer she found Peeta shrugging off his coat and unlacing his boots while simultaneously shaking snow out of his hair. He didn't look up at her despite the fact that he obviously knew she was there. Katniss crossed her arms and attempted to hide how much that hurt before clearing her throat.

Peeta's fingers halted their movement across his laces and slowly, he lifted his head to look at her. The look in his eyes was guarded, mistrusting. It hurt Katniss more than any insult or injury ever could.

"Hello." She murmured softly, unsure.

"Hi." He almost snapped and went back to his shoes, Katniss gulped.

"You're a little late. Effie had a fit,"

He seemed to breathe to calm himself "Tell her I'm sorry, something just came up."

"You didn't come back home. I waited for you until two in the morning," She added softly and studied her shoes.

"I needed some air." he said nonchalantly.

She nodded and stood there staring at him. His attention was occupied by a large knot on his right boot.

Was this what they were doomed to be for the rest of their lives? Two people with too many conflicted emotions, two individuals that cared for each other so strongly they would sacrifice their own skin to make sure the other survived, yet they couldn't look the other in the eye? Was that all they would ever be… all they could be?

"Ahem," a gruff voice said behind them, making Katniss turn around and Peeta look up from under his messy waves "Effie wants you kids to hurry up."

Peeta nodded and exchanged that look with Haymitch that men get when they recognise that something is wrong and neither wants to speak of it "Just let me take off my shoes."

Haymitch directed a curt nod his way "C'mere sweetheart, we've got wok to do. Peeta doesn't need you to supervise him."

Katniss hesitated for a second. She looked back at Peeta searching for some sort of response out of him, she wasn't sure what it was that she wanted from him but she didn't find it for he didn't even look in her direction. With a growing sense of helplessness she turned towards Haymitch and walked past him into her living room.

"Peeta," the older man said with a rather gentle tone, causing the younger boy to look up more in surprise than in recognition of his own name. "Whatever it was that happened I have two things I want you to do. Don't go easy on her but don't break her."

He frowned "What?"

"Our little princess over there needs a real smack of reality from every direction if we want her to make the right decisions."

Rather cold words from a surprisingly sober man.

* * *

Katniss stared at the little light bulb that stood out from the otherwise smooth surface of the hallways wall, it's presence was another coat of darkness that she wished to shrug off but couldn't. Effie had explained that the light bulb –which was tinted red- would light up when the cameras were filming which would be at ten every morning, and it would shut down when the cameras finished rolling, which would apparently be at nine in the evening, something she highly doubted but didn't really care about at this point in her life.

She was the presidents little puppet after all.

She sighed and closed her eyes; it was still much too early for filming to begin. Peeta had left the moment he was dismissed without having looked in her direction once. She had shrugged it off, if he didn't want to talk to her it was fine, she wouldn't talk to him. He could do whatever he wanted. It wasn't as if he _had _to talk to her anyways, they didn't even have to see each other after they finished filming for the show.

Then why did she feel so guilty?

She had the sudden urge to hit something but settled for passing her house. Where was he? What was he doing? She just wanted to apologize for being so blatant. Why wouldn't he let her apologize?

She had figured that after their 'spat' he would come back home after an hour or so and they would put it behind them. Maybe discuss the _nightmare _that it was to have Effie around every day for the next month and then even longer during the Victory Tour. Hell, after their walk on the train tracks and everything that had been said and everything that hadn't been said they had still managed to fall quite easily into their effortless friendship. Why couldn't they do that now? How different was this discussion from the last one?

Katniss knew the answer to that question so well; she had simply hoped to avoid it.

This time around she had been so cold. She hadn't thought about what she was saying before she said it. On those train tracks she had said 'not all of it,' which was true, and may have installed some hope within him. But this time she had screamed those horrible words. Those punishing, unforgiving words; 'I never will.'

God, why did anyone even bother being in her presence? She was so horrible to everyone.

At this point she could only get used to one thing, get used to not having Peeta around anymore, forget the days they had spent laughing together.

And she knew even as she contemplated her new plan that it was impossible.

* * *

**District Twelve, Merchant's area, The Fuller's Flower Shop**

"Ugh," Eve Fuller winced as she dropped a rose and sucked on the drop of blood on her fingertip. Eve hated roses; she hated all the spikes and their smell. When Eve thought of roses she thought of her father and his shovel and Eve hated her father, especially when accompanied by his shovel.

"Peeta, can you pass me that roll of ribbon please?" She glanced at the blond boy sitting beside her whom was fiddling with everything within reach; he spun the roll on his index finger before passing it to her.

After meeting Peeta Mellark for the first time the night before Eve had felt a little better about herself since she wasn't the type that knew a lot of people, or even talked that much. According to her late mother she had always been a bit of a recluse. She was very grateful of his sudden appearance for she wasn't sure how she would have defended herself without him.

Eve didn't have many friends and therefore didn't know much about how to make a new one. She was pleasantly surprised at how easily she was managing this new-found friendship with the baker's son. She didn't feel awkward or abnormal in any form. Simply accepted and welcome. With what life had served her so far, to Eve acceptance was vitally important, a wonderful luxury. She hadn't even sensed any confusion coming from him over her hair color. Everyone in town was a different variation of blond and she was a golden brunette, golden but still a brunette. She had always been ostracized because of this. Everyone knew that if her physical features were in any form different than others in the community that meant that her mother must have been unfaithful; it meant that she came from a family with loose morals. Who would want to be in any form connected with a bastard child?

She had run into him that morning while she was purchasing everything her household was in need of. Surprisingly she hadn't found him at the bakery, but at the butchers. He had been holding a paper bag while discussing something about rum with the shop owner; apparently Peeta had been looking all morning for some alcohol for Haymitch Abernathy. In the manner of a true gentleman Peeta had offered to help her carry her bags. She had been wary at first, not used to having people be this kind to her but eventually complied. She was sure that Peeta's honest blue eyes could convince anyone to do anything.

She looked around the deserted shop, it was covered in empty wooden crates waiting to be filled with flowers and be placed around the shops window. It was tiring work, especially for a girl as small as her. But Eve had always been stubborn as a mule, something her beloved brother called her with affection.

The shop was basically being run by her alone. Her father spent all his time counting his money and thinking about how he was going to spend it on alcohol, her stepmother was too busy gossiping with her friends to be of any use, and her two brothers were both married and working alongside their wives in their respective shops. That left Eve, and occasionally a boy named Steven who was Seam and desperate for work, to haul the heavy crates of flowers, to cut them and clean them properly, to arrange them, to keep the financial books, to do _everything._

Well, at least today she wasn't alone, Peeta with all his generosity offered to help her and he seemed to be pretty strong, what with his thick arms and all.

Together they hauled the heavy boxes across the room. Peeta was quicker and much more efficient at the task, lifting the boxes and walking them across the room swiftly. Meanwhile Eve gripped a corner and dragged the crates to their new destination. Peeta had chuckled at her method.

As they worked they conversed. As it turned out they had plenty of topics to talk about, the sort of thing only an inhabitant of Town would know about. They laughed over a boy named Francis; a friend of Peeta's who was well known for being loud, and very much infatuated by Delly Cartwright. They both shared the same dislike for Mrs. Turner, who ran the fabric shop; she was a bitter and horrid woman. They talked about teachers and school. It didn't take long for Peeta to learn of her inactive social life. He was very much amazed with the entire thing, especially since she didn't take part in any of the 'happenings' every other youth in town took part of. He stared at her dumbfounded holding a crate of flowers.

"You've never snuck out to the fire pit? Not even on New Year's Eve?"

Eve looked at the floor and shook her head a pink blush coloring her cheeks.

"You've never been to Drew's attic?"

Eve threw her head back in a laugh "I once broke Drew's nose, no I haven't been in his attic."

"Wow." He shook his head "and I used to think that I didn't go out enough."

Eve rolled her eyes and went back to dragging the crates across the room "Oh shut it. When you were in school you were very well liked."

Peeta seemed to consider this with a smirk "I am still very well liked for your information,"

Eve rolled her eyes.

"But," Peeta continued, unperturbed by her expression "I didn't go out _often _I've always been weird that way. People used to invite me places and I would always make up an excuse; Even if I was available. Work at the bakery _did _run long but I could still sneak out like everyone else after closing time but I just didn't feel like it most of the time."

Eve threw him a look over her shoulder "Under that popular boy façade is there a wallflower hiding, Mellark?"

He set a crate down beside her and rolled his eyes "Maybe."

Eve laughed; she did so quite comfortably. Most Town girls had been taught by their mothers at an early age to _not _throw their head back in amusement, to _not _laugh without some sort of 'graceful rhythm', and to _not _let the action shake their entire frames. Eve had obviously not been thought any of this by her mother since she let the corner of her eyes crinkle and her laugh itself sounds loud, breathy and silly. Peeta thought it was great and refreshing. He knew that everything Eve did was real, she didn't pretend to use what was considered 'politely correct' or silence her opinion. He knew Eve wouldn't fake anything for him.

He laughed right along with her.

* * *

**Ugh! I'm very sad guys! Would you like to know why?**

**Well let me tell you...**

**So I'm on , this site for young writers to go on and post their own original pieces. I had this story that had been hanging out in my Documents file for the longest time so I figured why not? After taking it to first person, to third person past tense and to third person first tense I feel horrible. It's like I've lost all connection to the story! I want to write it since it's been with me for a while, but I feel like I'm stretching a rubber band too far. Is it just not meant to be?**

**Thanks for reading don't forget to review.**

**Cassandraishere**


	7. Chapter 7 Part I

**_Must be strangely exciting  
To watch the stoic squirm  
Must be somewhat heartening  
To watch shepherd need shepherd  
But you... you're not allowed  
You're uninvited  
An unfortunate slight_**

**_Uninvited- Alanis Morissette_**

* * *

_**Winter**_

_**By: Cassandraishere**_

_**I'm back! Don't worry the next update after this one is coming up soon.**_

_**I don't own the Hunger Games, if I did the book wouldn't only say 'Peeta and I grow back together' it would have a whole book on how exactly that occurred.**_

_**I would like to thank all of you for your kind and honest reviews. You guys know who you are. Lots of you were very understanding as to why this chapter had to hit the back burner and for that I'm grateful. Also a heartfelt thanks to anyone who gave me comprehensive and honest criticism, I found it very helpful and shall keep every opinion I read in mind.**_

* * *

They were silent.

There were no words for a moment as such for speaking at such a time should be considered vulgar. Katniss stood beside her friend Gale and held his large hand in hers as they stared down at the mouth of the mines.

That was where it all happened.

They cried no tears and their hard expressions showed no emotion for all they felt was emptiness. Numbness left over by a tragic loss, the lack of feeling so much more horrible than grief itself.

They stood under the moon and stars that were hidden by the dark and murky smoke provided from the Seam homes as families cooked their meals and set fire to coal to warm themselves, the lack of the nighttime light seeming almost symbolic. What star could shine upon the earth at a time as such? How could beauty exist on such a gruesome day of days?

They stood in silence together, not moving a muscle as families came by to remember alongside them. Widows wept, children offered the wildflowers that sprouted like weeds everywhere to the mines that took everything.

No one spoke a word.

No one dared utter a syllable even when the skies groaned and sputtered, even when the dark night began to weep its sorrow. Katniss and Gale simply blinked away the fat rain drops that fell upon them, black as oil.

That morning was rushing towards them.

They stared at the mines even a people began to shuffle away, even as the sky began to clear and a new day was born. It was today, the day of sorrow, there would no longer be a blanket of darkness to hide the prideful inhabitants of the Seam as they wept. No one can hide in the daylight.

That morning was the same day that not too many years ago the alarms wailed, the children rushed out of school and adults from their homes. The same day they all lost a piece of them, the same day that the world she had known before ceased to exist.

The day they took him away.

Eventually Katniss and Gale began to walk away, soaked entirely and with eyes filled with raw pain. They continued to hold each other's hands in a vice grip, afraid to let go. Nothing in their world could last, everyone perished, everyone disappeared, they all perished.

Dead.

Dead.

Their fathers were dead.

They exchanged no words of farewell once they reached the Victors Village gates. They simply turned to walk on their separate paths, their fingertips the last to separate.

They both knew they would gravitate towards each other; there was no need for goodbyes.

Katniss marched stiffly towards her home, teeth grinding together, fingers feeling heavy and entirely numb. She rushed up the steps and in the door, mindful to wipe the soles of her boots on the 'welcome' ma; her mother had been working extra hard to make the floor boards sparkle and she wasn't in the mood to be on the receiving end of her disappointed ranting, not that she cared much if her mother scolded her, they hadn't been mother and daughter for much too long.

Katniss was not even out of her wool cap before her mother is there holding her arm to stop her.

"Don't worry, the boots are coming off." Katniss glanced up towards her mother under her damp hair in confusion, what is it with the rush to stop her?

"Yes, I see. You're all soaked! No wonder your walk was cut short."

She frowned and looked deep inside her mother's clear eyes. Didn't she know? She must have, it was the anniversary of… that day. She went off to hunt all night and stand before the mines all morning. She knew that, didn't she?

Her mother took her hunting bag and ushered her towards the powder room to help her dry up. Katniss caught sight of a man in a dark and sharp suit behind her.

"We have a visitor." Her mother whispered quickly in her ear.

As Katniss' mother rung out her hair and braided it, Prim came in with dry clothes and helped her dress quickly. As Katniss glanced at each of them in confusion she could see how much paler than usual their faces were and how they had the word 'anxiety' written across their features.

"I thought filming began later," Katniss frowned and looked from her mother to her sister "I'm not late am I?"

"No Katniss-" her mother began only to be interrupted by a couple of short raps upon the door.

"Miss Everdeen? Would you come with me please?"

Katniss stared at Prim in confusion, Prim never lied to her, she couldn't.

The younger girl nodded, looking as if she'd seen the grim reaper himself, "Go."

Katniss opened the door slowly and found the sharply dressed man before her looking expectant. He took a step backwards to give her space to exit the powder room, motioning forwards he said "Right this way."

It was an odd experience to be given directions in her own home but Katniss didn't question it. As she moved forwards to walk down the hallway she looked over her shoulder to smile at her family "It's probably more instructions on the show."

Katniss stared straight ahead as she followed the man down the hallway suddenly surprised to see the door to the study closed. She usually has meetings with the filming crew before each episode of the reality show. What topics should Peeta and her speak of? Where should they film?

But those meeting were regular and never felt this stiff and… generally fear inducing.

"Go right in." the Capitol man said as he motioned towards the door. Katniss glanced at him as if he held the answer to all her questions but the man simply turned, touched his watch and began to murmur to it. With a sigh Katniss turned back towards the door and twisted the brass doorknob, her stomach a pit of twisted nerves.

The first thing she noticed was the strange scent of blood laced with the strong perfume of roses. Wrinkling her nose Katniss stepped forwards and what she sees she didn't expect.

Before her stood a small man with white hair, a white rose, just as immaculately white as his hair attached to his breast pocket. This man is speaking to another whom has his back turned towards her, his broad shoulders and blond hair familiar. Just then the man with white hair looks up and a chilling smile stretches across his face.

Katniss was staring at the snake-like eyes of President Cornelius Snow.

* * *

_**Well, I've got something to tell you.**_

_**Remember what I said about writing my own story? Well let's just say it's in the works.**_

_**The whole thing still screams 'Rough Draft' but I've got some core ideas down.**_

_**Here it goes:**_

_**We've got a gypsy (whose name is prone to change, but I'm currently calling Esmeralda to fill the empty space) and her uncle Okana. Both of them accompanied by their fellow wanders hop from village to village in a rampage of repeat robbery and Esmeralda's pursuit of both freedom and belonging.**_

_**We have an orphan named Aziel who's been raised by a witty nun named Carmen. Aziel lives in fear. If word reaches some of the corrupt church officials both he and his father could be executed.**_

_**We've got a member of the Royal Guard (unnamed for now) who lives in the lap of luxury and has the reputation of being an honorable man, when in reality he is a lying thief who takes advantage of those too weak to defend themselves.**_

_**It's still mostly an idea in my head, but this story (Which I've named 'The Pursuit of Freedom') could be what I need to break out of this weird feeling I have every time I write. It feels as if I'm forcing words when they still need to simmer.**_

_**Thank you for reading don't forget to review!**_

_**Cassandraishere.**_


End file.
